Warrior Watchers
by Epicocity
Summary: AU. Natsu Dragneel saw a dragon before his father disappeared, and he was thrown in a psychiatric facility as a result. Seven years passed before he and the other "Dragon Watchers" escaped. But getting involved with wizards, a girl named Lucy Heartfilia and a war against the shadowy Balam Alliance wasn't what he expected. Especially if it provided answers...or killed them.
1. PART 1: PAINFUL PRELUDE: Chapter 1

**A new story! A different main pairing! A return to my writing roots! A complex (but hopefully not complicated) plot! A lot of excitement ahead! This is my first chapter and I hope you'll enjoy it immensely. When I think about my stories, I always try to think of one word in mind to describe it. TO CATCH A KILLER was "vengeance". TO FIND A KILLER is "sacrifice". MUSICAL CHAIRS was "maturity". This story is "family" so I hope you'll see that as I write this tale.**

**Author: Epicocity**

**Rating: T for language, innuendos, and violence**

**Pairings: Nalu, Gale, Gruvia, Jerza and others**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail. Those rights belong specifically to Hiro Mashima and Kodansha.**

* * *

><p><strong>WARRIOR WATCHERS<strong>

_**A Fairy Tail Fanfiction**_

PART 1

PAINFUL PRELUDE

Chapter 1

I saw a dragon.

Okay…maybe that isn't the best start to a story, but just introducing myself would be so boring. Well, I guess every story needs a beginning and an end. I suppose it could at least begin with my name.

My name is Natsu Dragneel and I saw a dragon. At least, that's what I remember my eyes seeing, so I wrote it down. I wrote down everything that happened to me after that, actually. What I saw, heard, felt…all of it. People may think my head is full of rocks, but it's not. I've got a decent memory and my eyes sure as hell work.

Oh, you're probably confused by now, huh? Well, let's backtrack here to long before all this crap happened. Before I'd ever heard of demons or the Balam Alliance, or even Fairy Tail. Let's go back to the day I saw that dragon, because that's where this story begins. My story, at least. I'll fill in the blanks with info I obtained after the fact, but for now, this is my story and it all began on July 7th when I was ten years old.

At this time I was living in the very awesome town of Magnolia and even then, I had a great reputation for being the town's resident pyromaniac. I loved that job. Not that I ever got to set anything on fire, thanks to my best friends from back in that day.

"For the millionth time, dude, you can't go setting fire to stray dogs you find in the park," said my best friend, Gray Fullbuster. Now, when I say "best friend", I use the term very loosely. He's a best friend to me like a cat is to a mouse. He was an annoying, black-haired, necklace wearing, droopy-eyed kid. He still is. He also strips…constantly. I can't stand that fact about him.

"It's not like anyone's gonna go looking for it," I protested, throwing my hands behind my head.

"Mira would. And if she found out, you know what she'd do!" Gray snapped back to me. He took a lick of his ice cream cone (I had already finished mine) and stared at me with wide eyes. I folded my arms with a huff, but inside I was shivering. That's because I knew what the stripper was implying before he even mentioned my other best friend's name. "She'd tell Erza and then she'd kick both our asses because I didn't stop you."

"Sh-shut up!" I argued back, my face flush with embarrassment. And fear. Yes, I'm man enough to admit that just hearing Erza Scarlet's name, even at ten years old, was enough to scare me. Trust me, by the time I'm done telling this story, you'll be scared, too. However, back then I was still foolish enough to not be afraid, so I turned to look at Gray and tell him off when, lo and behold, he was missing his shirt. "Where'd your clothes go?"

"Huh?" he questioned, looking down at his chest. "When did that happen? My mom bought me that shirt!"

"Don't cry about it, stripper!" I couldn't help but taunt. Gray was about to shoot back with what would likely be some lame remark when the bell from the cathedral in town began ringing. To this day, I'll always remember the sound of those four chimes, because it was the last time I ever really heard them for what they were. To me, those bells became a symbol of freedom. To Gray, they were just a symbol that he was late.

"Ah, it's already four! I gotta get home," he complained as he scratched the back of his head.

"What for? I thought we were going to The Fort?"

"Yeah, but my cousins are coming over, and even though I can't stand Lyon, my mom and dad still expect me to be there," Gray said with a grimace. "Hey, maybe tomorrow! The Strauss family will be back in town so we can bring Elfman back in."

"Sounds awesome," I said as Gray began walking away. We gave each other a parting wave and in seconds he had left me alone on the street with nothing to do. That sucked. For all my talk, I did actually enjoy spending time with the stripper. Mostly because I hated being alone, especially during the summer. Honestly, the only reason I actually enjoyed going to school was because I was always surrounded by people. I couldn't imagine my life without them. Well, them and my dad.

My dad, Igneel Dragneel, is the best dad in the world, and not because he let me stay up playing video games or allowed me to eat all the spicy food I could ask for. He's great simply because he was always there for me. I don't remember my mother. I mean, obviously I had one, but I don't remember her name or her face and my dad doesn't ever talk about it. As a ten year old, I didn't care because all that mattered was that my dad was there for me. During the summer, however, he had to work during the day and didn't get home until five, which left me with an hour of finding stuff to do. Realizing that, I decided to change direction and head to The Fort.

The Fort was a wooden tree house that Gray and I found on the outskirts of Magnolia when we were in kindergarten. Our parents didn't mind because they knew where it was, so we'd usually head there every day after school. While at first it was a place for Gray and I to battle it out in peace, we eventually added some other guys to the little band we'd formed, like Elfman or a neighbor down the street named Max. You know, it was basically one of those "No Girls Allowed" clubs. Except for Erza. But she's too scary to be a girl. In any case, The Fort was our place of solace and solitude, especially on a day like that when it was just me, the tree house, and the forest. I'm sorry to say that it has since fallen into disrepair, but that day it had been the most comforting I had ever seen it.

It took me only a few minutes running down the road (of course, I ignored the townspeople yelling at me) to reach the woods where The Fort sat, and even less time to reach the tree and climb up the ladder embedded into its side. When I finally reached the top, I took in a breath of the fresh air resonating around the tree house. I've always had a good nose, which meant I could smell the threadbare rug that our parents had insisted we lay down, the smell of the lamp we'd sometimes bring when we stayed over night, even the smell of the trees whistling in the wind. It was that sound and smell that drew me to the window of The Fort.

The tree that The Fort was situated on was taller than most trees in the forest (or maybe it was just on higher ground, but I've been told that topography wasn't my specialty). Thanks to this elevated height, I was able to look out the window and survey the entire forest. I remember it smelling nice for just a moment until something changed in the air. I could feel it, like an unearthly tension coming to rest in my bones. At the time, I thought maybe Gray had been a dumbass and left the lamp on, causing a fire to start. I turned around to check and that's when I heard it pierce through the air.

A great roar filled my ears that was so deafening that, in hindsight, I'm surprised no one else heard it. That sound made me stumble and I hit the floor, getting a face full of rug. My body was shaking as the roar continued to rattle my body and I tried to stand, but could only pull myself to my knees. The roar ceased and I willed my body to move. I still couldn't stand, so I shuffled my knees along the ground and back to the window. Was there some kind of wild animal lurking right outside, waiting to devour me? Was this one of Gray's pranks? Or was my mind playing tricks on me? I had to know the answer so that I could evaluate the situation from there.

Well, you know what they say about curiosity.

The first thing I smelled was smoke, and not like someone was standing below the tree with a cigarette. It was like the forest was burning, an acrid smell that hung in the nose and made me cringe. I thought that either someone was starting a forest fire, or at worse some kind of missile struck the forest and set it ablaze. Maybe that was why I didn't believe what my eyes were seeing at first, but when they finally adjusted to the inferno, my jaw dropped.

Floating in the air was a dragon. Now, I only knew about dragons from all those fairy tale stories about being those evil creatures that guard vast hordes of treasure and princesses. This one didn't look quite so evil, but it looked scary and powerful and very, very real. Its scales were a flaming red and its wings were expansive. It even looked like it was on fire. The thing that made it truly frightening, however, wasn't the dragon itself, but the thing it was fighting.

It looked like a gargantuan and grotesque tree, twisted into a form with far too many eyes that were glowing purple. Even worse, I felt like its eyes (however many there were) were locked right on me. Finally my brain moved in synch with my body and told me to run. I finally sprang to my feet and ran for the exit. Curiosity once again caught the better of me and I glanced back in time to see the dragon rear back and send a blast of fire that incinerated the other creature that could only be described as a demon. This was a bad move, because as I heard the demon's screech, my foot slipped and I slowly tumbled through the branches and hit the forest floor.

The impact dazed me as I lay there on the ground and all I could replay was that dragon attacking that demon over and over. I closed my eyes, hoping it was all just a nightmare, but the pain and soreness I felt all over my body told me it wasn't. I'm not even sure how long I laid there; face down in the dirt, waiting for it all to go away. All I remember was the intense heat, like the fire from the dragon was surrounding me and burning me from the inside out. Eventually it stopped, but I refused to move until the sounds of chirping birds and various wood wildlife returned. I knew then that I couldn't stay here.

I scrambled to my feet, gulping in the fresh air and made a dash towards town. The Magnolia evening life was starting to spring up as I dashed into town and overhead I heard six chimes from the cathedral bell. It had already been two hours. I couldn't believe it! Still, a sense of hope grew in my chest. If it was after six that meant that my dad would be home. I could talk to him, tell him everything and it would all be okay. With this one thought consuming me, I pushed myself to run harder. Some people called to me, but I only had the one goal in mind.

It was only a few minutes before our small one-story house appeared and I barreled forward. I intended to just barge into the house, like I always did to greet dad, but instead I found myself bouncing off the door. That was strange. Dad never locked the door when I was out and he was in. I quickly checked the door handle and it was, indeed, locked. I fumbled for one of those hide-a-keys we kept on the porch and used it to quickly unlock the door, thinking my dad may not have realized I wasn't home.

I only wish I had been right, because when I slammed my way inside, desperately yelling "Dad!" all I was met with was a chilled silence. That's not entirely true. I could hear my breathing; heavy and panicked in the otherwise silent house. I padded forward into the living room and kitchen. There was no sign of his flaming locks of hair or his jovial laughter. I called again, skidding through the house. Again, I received no answer. Panicking at this point, I dashed to his room, but he wasn't there either. Instead, it looked like a whirlwind had hit the room, like he had been home and had taken off, or maybe he had been abducted. Maybe it was that dragon.

I couldn't stay there anymore. There were too many worst-case scenarios rolling around in my brain and I needed to tell someone. With my dad missing, I could only think of one option: the police. Thanks to all my pyromaniac activities and the community officer, I knew exactly where they were, too. So, I turned right around and ran from the house, not even bothering to lock the door. Not much time had passed since I'd last run through the town, but already the sun was starting to set, casting a strange glow over the area. Like it was on fire.

Only seconds later, I found the white (almost alabaster, I'm told) building that was the police station in front of me. I didn't stop to think and ran right in, only to bump into someone. I fell onto my butt and looked upward to see the officer I had crashed into. He was a younger officer, with short-cut black hair who looked down at me with concern.

"Are you all right, kid?" he asked before kneeling down to my level. "What's wrong?"

"M-my dad…" I gasped out, slightly winded from the run over. "I can't find him. He's usually home but he's gone a-and I…I saw something in the forest."

"Something?" the officer asked kindly, offering me a hand to help stand up. I took it, getting my panicked breaths under control.

"A dragon…it set the forest on fire and-"

"Officer Doranbolt! Is there a reason you're standing around talking to a child instead of out on patrol?" I peered around this Officer Doranbolt I was speaking to in order to see a rather fat man approaching in a horribly fitted suit. He also had this impossibly bushy beard and beady eyes. I would have mistrusted him, but he _was_ the police.

"Chief Seam, this child came in and said his father was missing and that he saw…something set the Magnolia forest on fire," the officer named Doranbolt responded. "I was hoping to help him."

"Hmm…" the chief mused before he began stroking his beard. "Well, I'm loathe to believe a child, but I suppose we have to indulge these kinds of delusions once in a while. Young boy, what exactly did you see set fire to the forest? An arsonist? A punk kid?"

"N-neither…" I stuttered out. I didn't like this man, but at the moment, the police were the only people I could trust. "It looked like a big dragon."

"A dragon?" the chief chortled out. I wasn't sure if it were amusement or ridicule at the time. Although, judging by the events that followed, I'm pretty sure it was the latter. "There's no such thing as dragons. Still, if someone set fire to the forest, it would be best to see for ourselves and contact the fire department if necessary. Doranbolt, why don't you and Lahar go examine the forest. I'll put Head Detective Doma on finding that boy's father."

"You'll help me?" I blurted out, surprised that they were actually taking my words seriously. The chief turned to me with a smile and nodded.

"We're the police," he answered. "It's what we're supposed to do. Now, how about you come and wait inside my office? This ordeal must be terribly exhausting for you."

I was so relieved by this Chief Seam's words that I obeyed and followed without question. In hindsight (like I realize this whole situation is), I should have realized the strangeness about the case. Like the fact that even after the chief brought me into his office, sat me down, and gave me some blankets, he never once asked me my name or my father's. My ten-year old mind didn't comprehend this, though. Actually, the whole ordeal was so exhausting, I actually fell asleep in the chair. By the time I woke up, it was deep night outside the window.

Yawning widely, I stood and glanced through the blinds that concealed the interior of the chief's office. There weren't many people or officers in the station by this point, which made it very easy to recognize the form of the Officer Doranbolt I had spoken to. He, himself, was speaking with the chief animatedly while standing next to another officer who was wearing glasses. Now, I'm not an expert on body language, and I wasn't then either, but it certainly seemed as though they were all arguing, but I couldn't figure out why. The chief had his arms folded and was shaking his head while Doranbolt gesticulated wildly with his hands. Eventually, the chief turned around and walked away.

Considering the conversation finished, I snuck away and sat back down in the chair I had been sleeping in. I honestly didn't expect Officer Doranbolt to open the door moments later wearing a guilty look on his face. I immediately sprang to my feet again.

"Did you find him? Did you find my dad?" I asked. The officer seemed to take a breath before answering, like he was choosing his words carefully.

"No…" he answered solemnly. "Wherever he is, he left no clue as to where he had gone. We'll keep an eye out, but there's only so much we can do."

"What about the dragon?" I didn't notice then, but when I asked that question, Doranbolt's body tensed.

"We went to the forest, but…there were no signs of a fire."

"What? ! But I saw it! I felt it!" I must have moved my body unconsciously, because I felt Doranbolt lightly push me back into the chair.

"I believe you, okay?" he said softly. "Just, no matter what happens, I believe you." He then gave me a slight pat on the head and turned to the exit from the office, but stopped short.

"Next time, Doranbolt, when I say not to speak, you don't speak," the chief said from the front of the office, his smile completely gone.

"My apologies, sir" Doranbolt responded with his head hung low. He then shuffled from the room without even another glance spared towards me. The chief, now radiating an aura of coldness, stepped further into the room followed by two other men who certainly didn't look like police officers.

The one in the lead had almost impossibly tanned skin and stringy white hair. In his eyes and the way he carried his body was an air of intelligence, or maybe it was arrogance, that dwarfed everyone else in the room. The man behind him made the two look like a pair of night and day. Whereas the first man was immensely tanned, this man was pale, though his hair was just as stringy as the other man's, just done differently. The only change in the way they carried themselves was that he had a suitcase clasped in his hands. He placed this same suitcase on the desk and opened it, but I couldn't see its contents. The chief seemed unsure of what to say when I looked at him in question, so he just grunted and left the room.

"So, I hear you saw a dragon," the tanned man said, his face devoid of all emotion. "Is this true?"

"Y-yes…Who are you?"

"My apologies. My name is Doctor Brain, and this is my associate, Doctor Erigor," the man answered. I narrowed my eyes in confusion. What would a doctor be doing speaking to me? "Now, this dragon sighting. What was this dragon doing?"

"It was fighting something that looked like a demon," I answered impatiently. "I don't care about that right now. I want to know where my dad is!" Doctor Brain turned to his associate, completely ignoring me.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked. Doctor Erigor frowned slightly before giving a nod.

"Certainly seems vivid," he answered. Obviously deeming that response satisfactory, Brain turned back to me with a grave look on his face.

"Son, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

"Why? Where?" I asked, already distrusting this man.

"Somewhere special for people who have imagined these things like you have." I froze. This man didn't want to help me at all! His words finally jerked me into reality and I stood in defiance.

"I didn't imagine it!" I snapped. "I know what I saw! I know what I felt! Now, where's my dad? I want to tell _him_!"

"I figured this would happen," Doctor Brain breathed. "Doctor Erigor, the sedative please." The pale skinned doctor reached into the case and pulled out a nasty looking syringe. My eyes widened at the sight of it and I attempted to run away. I didn't get very far because Doctor Brain caught me around my midsection and held me tight.

"Let me go! Let go of me! I want to see my dad! Let me see him! Dad, where are you…?" I said that last word as I felt the needle jab into my neck. My limbs became heavy and my senses began to fade away. My eyes drooped and I quickly lost consciousness.

How could I possibly know that I lost consciousness, you ask? Well, being unconscious isn't exactly like going to sleep. When you go to sleep, you tend to dream about all kinds of things. When you wake up, you feel refreshed and like you went on a wild adventure within your dreams. Being unconscious is the opposite. You don't dream. You're just stuck in this infinite black space and when you wake up, you feel as exhausted, if not more, than when you got knocked out. Trust me, I would know…mostly because this was the first of many times that I've been knocked out. This time, in particular, when I woke up, it hit me hard.

The first thing I felt when I woke up was soreness, particularly on my neck where the needle had been driven in. I sluggishly moved my arms to feel for it, and as I did so, my eyes opened and took in my surrounding area. It was a white room, entirely devoid of personality. I could feel that I was lying on a bed that was surprisingly comfortable, but the only other distinguishing features were a small nightstand next to the bed and a desk with a chair in the opposite corner. If you're wondering why I can describe this room so well, let's just say I spent a lot of time in it. At least it had a window. Big enough to let good air in but not for me to climb through.

"Where am I?" I asked groggily, not really expecting an answer.

"You're in the Magnolia Psychiatric Facility," said a familiar voice. The words alone caused me to sit up hastily in my new bed, adrenaline forcing my blood to pump faster.

"Psychiatric Facility? I'm not crazy!"

"Of course," said the voice and I finally looked to see whose it was. I instantly recognized the pale face of Doctor Erigor sitting there. In his hands was a clipboard and next to him on the desk were a notebook and a bottle with two pills inside it, orange in color.

"I know what I saw."

"And I'm certain you believe it, too, but that kind of behavior cannot be tolerated here. We will heal you, starting with you taking these pills," Doctor Erigor explained, pointing to the two pills on the desk. I shifted away from them and shook my head vigorously. No way was I taking some strange pill when I didn't know where it came from.

"No. I don't need some pill. I'm not crazy," I refused defiantly. Doctor Erigor sighed before looking at me with the scariest eyes I had ever seen.

"You _will_ take them. Now!" His words compelled me to actually stand. I was conflicted with two separate emotions as I reached forward to grab the bottle. On the one hand, I felt fear. This guy was scary, like he'd rip me to shreds if I didn't take the pills. The other emotion was anger and the need to punch this guy in the face. Unfortunately, fear was winning out.

"What will it do to me?" I asked tentatively.

"Nothing harmful, I assure you. We like to keep our patients alive." I swallowed thickly, as though there were a lump in my throat while I stared at the pills. They looked harmless, but I was still scared to take them. On top of that, Doctor Erigor was still sending me that death glare and I knew that I had no choice. I opened the bottle and quickly downed the two pills. Then I waited a moment, but nothing happened. I looked to the doctor, as if to ask if this was normal. He didn't answer.

"You'll feel the effects soon enough," was the best explanation he could provide. "Now, here's how things are going to work here at the Magnolia Psychiatric Facility. Judging by your current reactions, you'll spend the first week in this room while we watch the medicine take effect. Every day you'll be provided with said medicine and you will take it _every day_. You'll also be provided with this journal to write down all thoughts. After the week is up, you'll be joining others around your age in something that we like to describe as an extended recess. You'll also have sessions with various doctors three times a week. We have also provided a change of clothes."

These were the last words he spoke as he strode toward the door. I tried to chase after him. "What about my dad? Has he come to see me?" Doctor Erigor paused a moment at the door and turned back.

"No one has come to see you." There was a moment of silence between us, in which I clenched my fists.

"I'm not lying or imagining things. I did see a dragon." Doctor Erigor's eyes narrowed.

"Well, very soon, you won't." Then he shut the door. My first instinct was to run after him, but I simply rebounded off the door. Many times, actually. It was only when my shoulders started to hurt that I turned to the journal he had provided. My anger at being locked in here never subsided though, and my writings appeared more like chicken scratch than usual. I'm actually surprised I'm still able to read it.

That whole week I was angry. I was alone and abandoned for the first time in my life. No one would tell me anything and the people who provided the medicine (I took it to avoid Doctor Erigor's wrath) were like faceless dolls. I tried to escape through the window once but I got stuck. I even tried breaking the furniture to get out, but it never succeeded. When the staff would ask me why I did it, I simply shut my mouth and glared at them. They always went away. The worst part was that even when my anger subsided, I still felt this burning sensation bubbling up inside of me. It was one long week, and I counted down every day.

The morning of that day, I woke to a strange and acerbic smell and noticed that my sheets were strangely smoking. I quickly kicked them off. I love fire, but I didn't really want to _be_ on fire. Thankfully, my clothes were okay, so I tossed the sheets to the side and sat on the edge of my bed to wait. It didn't take long for the door to open and Doctor Erigor to stride in. I figured they must have been monitoring me. He briefly sniffed the air but made no comment. He simply nodded to me and I got to my feet to follow him. We went only a short distance until we reached a large white room.

True to the doctor's word, there were a bunch of kids ranging from five year olds to kids slightly older than me. One kid was sleeping in a corner, while another was running around the room. A mauve-haired kid was against the wall with his eyes closed and his hands over his ears. Yet another was standing against the wall, talking to it about shadows. I only saw two people that weren't solitary. Two boys, one black haired and the other blonde, were in a corner talking to each other. I was so busy observing them that I hadn't even heard the door shut.

"Wow, that's a retarded hair color," came a voice from one of the three tables in the room. I looked to the owner and saw another black-haired kid sitting there. He didn't look much older than myself, but he already had multiple piercings all over his face. He instantly annoyed me, especially since he said something about my hair color. Honestly, just because I have pink hair doesn't mean you have to point it out.

"Like you have room to talk, rivet-face," I shot back. The kid stood from the table to approach me. It drew some gazes, but most of the room's occupants ignored us.

"I didn't ask you to comment on my face," he growled at me, grabbing the front of my shirt. I didn't do anything at first, since he seemed to just be examining me. "What're you in for?"

"What's it to you? And who the hell are you, anyway?"

"Gajeel Redfox, pinky. I run this room." I looked around at our fellow patients.

"Doesn't look like much to run," I commented. Gajeel frowned momentarily before glaring at me again. "All right, I tell you and you tell me why _you're_ here."

Gajeel appeared to struggle with this deal for a moment before nodding his head. "Fine."

"I saw a dragon, but they think I'm hallucinating it." Gajeel froze and his lips turned into a snarl before he more violently grabbed me.

"Where? Was it gray with metal scales?"

"No, it was red and breathed fire. Why the hell do you care?" Gajeel refused to answer, his eyes wide and wild. He also didn't look like he was going to let go of me. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I grabbed his wrists and attempted to pry them off of me. The more I struggled, the more resistance I met. "Let go already."

A slight spark appeared where my hands had grabbed his wrists and he stumbled back. When he lifted his arms, I saw they were a little burned and he was looking at me in surprise. "You, too?"

"Me too? What do you mean?" I demanded. Gajeel sighed, but grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to an unoccupied corner.

"I saw a dragon too, but no one quite believed me," Gajeel told me in a hushed tone. It was my turned to look at him in surprise. Maybe this guy was proof that I wasn't crazy. "I got shipped here and I learned how to shut my mouth about it, but a few days ago I discovered that I could do this." Then he held up his arm and I saw that it was gleaming, like it was covered in metal scales.

"Freaky…" I breathed.

"No more freaky than you almost setting my arm on fire like a frickin' salamander," he growled. I would have given him a witty retort, but the two of us heard laughter first. This seemed unusual, so we turned to see the mauve-haired boy, now with his hears uncovered, looking at us with amusement. "What're you laughing at, Erik?"

"Nothing. You never mentioned that you had seen a dragon, Gajeel," the boy named Erik said. Gajeel folded his arms as he led the both of us over to the boy.

"What's it to you?"

"I just find it interesting that four people in the same room claim to have seen dragons."

"You, too?" I asked. Erik, however, shook his head.

"Nah, I just hear things. For example," Erik answered, jerking his head to where the only duo in the room was sitting, "those two have been talking about dragons, too. And they've been staring at you guys since you started talking about it. Must be true, huh?"

"You think we're crazy?" I asked. Gajeel didn't care for the answer because he was already walking over to the corner boys.

"Personally, I don't think any of us are crazy." I gave Erik one last look at his response before walking over to join Gajeel, who was glowering at the two boys, both of them looking slightly younger than us. It also seemed as though they had already had a short discussion.

"So, all four of us saw dragons, huh? That's gotta be some kind of record," he said distastefully. Neither of the other two answered, so I chose to be the surprisingly more courteous one.

"What're your names?"

"I'm Sting Eucliffe. The quiet one is Rogue Cheney," the blonde answered. "Funny that we're all here for the same reason, huh? Though I don't think any of us saw the same dragon." I thought about that a moment before an idea suddenly hit me.

"Hey, what day did you guys-" Before I could finish asking, the door to the room opened and a new occupant was tossed into the room. Of course, we heard her before we saw her since she was crying and the assistants were yelling "Let them deal with her!" She didn't stop when the door to the room closed and she didn't move either, her tears drenching the tips of her deep blue hair. Most people in the room ignored her, but the four of us continued to stare at her. She didn't look a day over five and her face was red and blotchy.

"Damn, she's loud," Gajeel complained. He was right, of course, but I felt she looked far too upset to be left alone, so I slowly approached her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked. Almost instantly, the little girl stopped crying, but the tears didn't stop and she refused to say anything. I smiled at her before saying, "I'm Natsu Dragneel. Who are you?"

"W-Wendy M-Marvell," she squeaked out. I kept smiling when I heard the other three approaching.

"So, what's wrong, Wendy? You can tell me." Wendy looked torn between telling me and crying again. She, thankfully, decided on the former.

"I…I saw a silver dragon in the skies over my home. I wanted to tell mama, but I couldn't find her and then they brought me here. I just wanted to see my mama!" I stood back a bit and looked at Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue. Judging from the looks on their faces, they had all experienced the same thing.

"Are your parents gone, too? Same day as the dragons?" Gajeel asked. All of us nodded and Gajeel scowled. Then he asked the question I had wanted to before Wendy's arrival. "Did you guys see your dragons on July 7th, too?" Once again, we all nodded, even Wendy.

"This can't just be coincidence…" Sting said. Rogue nodded in agreement. "Though it's not like we'll get any answers in here."

"Do you think the dragon knows where mama is?" Wendy asked timidly. I shrugged my answer and Wendy looked down. "I miss my mama…"

"Yeah…I know how you feel. I miss my dad, too," I said, kneeling down to talk to her. "But how about, until we see them again, I'll be your family. I can be your big brother." Somehow, this seemed to have a placating effect on Wendy, because she looked up at me with bright, shining eyes.

"Really? And will you help me find mama?" Wendy asked gleefully.

"Of course!" I answered confidently. "All of us will be your big brothers and together we'll find our family and prove to the world that the dragons we saw are real."

"Yay!" In an unexpected motion, Wendy suddenly hugged me. Despite knowing her for only five minutes, I did the same.

I truly believed what I told her, too. Even if I had just met those people that would become my family. Even as we were forced to wait for the next seven years. I knew right then that we'd find our parents and show everyone the truth that dragons existed.

If only I knew then how right I was.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: A new story and my first foray into first person. I usually write third person so I'm doing this to really further my writing skills. Anyway, obviously, this is a darker story than my last Fairy Tail fic and draws a lot from the series but I've crafted my own story around that and I hope you'll enjoy it. I've got lots of great stuff planned (and I mean fully planned). A note on my update schedule, though. Musical Chairs was updated once a week but this story is too complex for that so expect every other week. If I'm fast, great, but don't count on it. Also, next week I'll be posting a oneshot for an undisclosed pairing. I hope you'll all read it. Anyway, a new story is always nerve-wracking when you want followers and I hope I can count on all of you to Review and Dare to Be Silly.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**I believe that fanfiction should serve two purposes when it is an AU: 1) It should be a story that can strongly stand on it's own without the structure of the universe supporting it, and 2) It should have tons of references that really let you know you're reading a fanfic for this category. I hope I've succeeded at that. Let's start Chapter 2.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

"Natsu, wake up!" I groaned at the sound of the squeaky voice, though my ears heard it as more of a growl. I had been dreaming of the dragon again, and of my dad. Where was he? What was that dragon doing? These thoughts may not have haunted me when I was awake, but in my dreams they were all too vivid. "Honestly, Natsu, why are you so lazy in the morning?"

"I am not," I mumbled almost incoherently. "I'm just selective about when I wake up, so give me five more minutes." Reinforcing my statement, I attempted to roll over, only to find myself on my back. Seconds later, a soft weight pressed onto my chest.

"Okay…but you know that your sheets are on fire, right?" That was enough to get me up. I catapulted forward and quickly threw the sheets to the corner of the room without a glance. I only realized how stupid this was when I heard giggling above me. "You totally fell for it.!"

"That was a mean trick, Happy," I snapped to the blue cat flying in the air. Yes, you heard me right. I was having a conversation with a talking, flying _blue_ cat.

You'd probably start to think this invalidates all my claims of not being crazy, but I know I'm not in this case. A lot of people have actually seen Happy. Hell, Gajeel once had an argument with my blue-furred feline friend. We've kept it under wraps from the doctors, but these cats have been some of our closest friends. Before you ask, I did say "cats" as in plural; as in, more than one. Although, I'm not really sure if calling them cats is the proper term because of the whole talking and flying thing. Maybe there were some kind of genetic experiment, or maybe they were created through some freak accident with magic. I didn't know then, and I still don't know now. What I do know, however, is that Happy's my friend, and at that moment I was peeved as hell at him.

"Someone had to get you out of bed, Natsu," Happy chuckled out. I scowled at him before lunging, but he hovered just out of my reach before slipping out of the open window above my bed.

Only slightly frustrated, I sighed and swung myself out of bed. I was still in the same room, though it looked a little different than it had seven years ago. The doctors finally allowed me some personal effects, even if it mostly amounted to a few pictures and a mirror (once they were sure I wouldn't try to kill myself with the glass). In particular, those few pictures I had were tacked to the mirror so I could look at them every morning. Pictures of me and Gajeel arm wrestling while Sting looked on in admiration. Pictures of Wendy resting in my lap while I read her a story or Gajeel scarily sang her to sleep. I guess I could sum it up as pictures of our family. It might have sucked ass here, but at least the doctors allowed us pictures.

My favorite picture, however, was the one I caught a glance of as I made my way to pick up my sheets. It sat next to my journal in a place of honor because it was the only picture I got from someone outside of the facility. The picture was simple as it only had me and her in it. She had taken it with her phone to commemorate our meeting. That made me smile as I grabbed my sheets and checked them over for any scorch marks.

Happy may have been playing a trick on me, but the possibility of setting my sheets on fire was still very real. Seven years had passed since that day we were all interned in the facility and I had discovered the ability to burn things with just my hands. I wasn't alone in that regard. Gajeel had discovered the ability to make his arm metal while Rogue found he had the ability to practically dissolve into shadow. This very ability had freaked out a fellow patient named Kageyama once, because he thought he was actually talking to one of his shadows. I'm pretty sure the poor guy underwent therapy after that day. Even Sting had developed his powers after watching me. I'm…not quite sure what his are supposed to be. Actually, out of all of us Dragon Watchers (a term we coined ourselves), Wendy was the only one to have not developed powers.

I was really grateful for that, actually.

Over those seven years, we had learned one thing about these strange powers: emotions controlled them. Now, that's not to say that every time we got angry our powers would flare up. No, once we learned how to kind of control them, our anger would only fuel our power when we were using it. It wouldn't be the same if Wendy unlocked her own, because she was still a little sensitive. It also sucked when we slept because we didn't always have full control over it when we did. That wasn't a problem for the others, but I could have accidentally set my bed on fire, though I hadn't for months. It would have completely sucked since we were trying to keep it a secret from the staff, just like Happy and the others. I'm pretty sure we had succeeded so far.

Sighing loudly, I threw the sheets back on to my bed. The staff would be in to clean them later, so I really didn't care what they looked like. I began to yawn loudly and ran a hand through my hair, which was still pink by the way. Recently, I had taken to calling it salmon in an effort to appear more masculine. That didn't really work. Thankfully, my hair was the least masculine thing about me, which was easily notable as I looked into the mirror. Once we had reached a certain age, we were all moved to a different room during the day that was filled with all sorts of things. In some way, it was like part playground, part work room. There wasn't much else to do, so most of us worked out and became quite muscular over time. Except for Wendy…I really wouldn't want to imagine my sweet little sister being muscular.

"Hey, Happy," I called loudly after I finished checking myself over in the mirror, "you planning on coming back in, buddy?"

"Aye, sir!" he called back as he swooped in through the window once again. I gave a small chuckle, because that had been the way we'd first met. He had landed on top of me and freaked me out, saying he was looking for his home. I thought I was completely off my nut, but soon found I connected with him. I gave him a name and pretended he was a plush doll. We soon found that Happy wasn't alone. He and the others soon decided their home was with us. That was almost six years ago.

"So, Happy, you have any luck with Carla yet?" I asked as I began to change into that day's clothes. For the record, Carla is Wendy's cat and she's…well…she's more like the opposite of Happy. But, I guess they do say that opposites attract.

"Aye! We snuggled after I gave her one of my fish!" Happy said, flying giddily around the room. I quirked an eyebrow up at him and gave a snicker.

"Yeah? Where? In your dreams?" I shot at him. He descended and landed on my table with a glare.

"Don't ruin my fun, Natsu!" he complained. I threw my hands up to tell him I would back off. There was no way I was getting in the middle of his love life with Carla (or lack thereof). "Hey, aren't Lucy and her friends scheduled to volunteer today?"

"Yeah, maybe…" I answered nonchalantly, which was the total opposite of how I really felt about it. I'm pretty sure that Happy could tell that from my tone, he knows me so well.

Lucy Heartfilia was the most amazing girl I ever knew. Now, I could just be biased here, but in my opinion, she was just short of perfection. Well, okay. She was just short of perfection _on occasion._ Seriously, though, if anyone were to ask me what I liked about Lucy, the first thing I would say is "What don't I like about Lucy?" She's sweet and kind, even if a little weird at times, but she's really devoted to what she likes and wants to do. It's because of her that my writings here actually make sense. She once told me that she longed to be a writer…I've always hoped that my writings would give her that chance she so deserved.

However, I can admit that we did have a rocky road when we first met two years ago. I can even remember it like it was yesterday…mostly because I wrote it all down and gave the notebook to her.

We were all in our usual area where we spend most of the day. The doctors allowed us plenty of freedom in there and they told us that we'd be meeting with volunteers our own age from the local Magnolia Academy.

"Right, 'volunteer'?" Gajeel had said mockingly. "What dumbass would be willing to come to this depressing place?" Metal Head (my most recent nickname for Gajeel) was right, though. We figured out pretty quickly that these "volunteers" were simply forced to meet some kind of community service requirement and the facility wanted us to interact with "more sane people our own age". Assholes.

So, that was the day I met Lucy Heartfilia, wearing designer brand clothing (Heart Kreuz, I'm told), a bag with bunnies on it, and a blue ribbon in her hair, looking nervously around the room. She hadn't been alone, either. She was joined by two other girls; one with blue hair and the other with silver who vaguely reminded me of the Strauss family. Gajeel, like usual, was the first to say something.

"We're just people," he had snapped at the timid looking blue-haired girl. "You don't have to stare at us like we got two heads or somethin', shrimp."

"Gajeel, don't be mean!" Wendy scolded. She was only in our age group because the doctors thought it best not to separate her from us. The blue haired chick that Gajeel had yelled at, who I now fondly know as Levy McGarden, pursed her lips before slapping Gajeel across the face.

Lucy had laughed at that. It was the first time I heard her laugh and saw her smile. Then she noticed me watching her with a frown. "What? Can't a girl laugh?"

I didn't respond a moment, but when I did, I only said three words: "You laugh weird."

Her reaction was the first time I felt a girl's wrath since Erza all those years ago, when she smacked me with her bag. I'd say it took her five minutes to calm down before she plopped herself next to me at the table and stared at me in scrutiny. I didn't say anything, which was unusual for me. Actually, I just stared her over, which probably made the whole thing uncomfortable. She was pretty, with blonde hair that framed her face nicely, with a very nice smile when she chose to show it. She also had really big boobs…not that I think about those things, but come on: I was a fifteen year-old guy.

"So, my name's Lucy. What's yours?" she had asked sweetly.

"Natsu Dragneel," I had answered softly. I could have really cared less about the blonde bombshell in front of me. Didn't stop her from smiling, though.

"So, Natsu, what are you in here for?"

"Why do you care, Loony?" Wrong move. I felt her smack me with her bag again. To this day, I still think she carried rocks in there.

"It's Lucy! And I care because I'm going to be volunteering here for at least the next semester and I'd like to get to know you. Or do you have a problem with that?" I still didn't care, but her weird passion got me just a little fired up, at least enough to answer her.

"Saw a dragon kill a demon," I had grunted out quickly. "They said I was crazy, so here I am."

"A dragon, huh? Don't hear much about things like that these days." I should have realized then that Lucy could turn into a rambler. "I mean, sure, dragons were said to have existed, like, a millennia ago, but the legends say they were all wiped out. I wouldn't have ever thought they'd appear in the present day."

Quite honestly, her reaction gave me a shock. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Oh, sorry," she had apologized, a small blush on her cheeks. "I read a lot, so when something comes up that I've read about, I tend to talk on and on for hours. Though, I'm nowhere near as bad as Levy over there."

"But…wait…" I said, having a hard time finding the words, "you believe me?"

"Uh, yeah," Lucy said with a straight face. "Sure, the chances of dragons surviving to the present day are one in ten million, but it's not impossible. You must be pretty special to have seen one." That was when I should have known that she was talking from experience.

"No one but the other four ever believed me…" I breathed out. It made my heart hurt with happiness. I decided right then that I liked Lucy Heartfilia. She must have decided that she liked me, too, because she came around the table and put her arm around me while holding her phone up.

"Let's remember this moment then, Natsu!" And she took the picture that sits on my desk to this day.

Since then, we haven't had the most perfect friendship, but Lucy always stuck around, and I always looked forward to her visits. Today was no exception.

So, anyway, enough with the digression. On this particular day, after Happy asked me that question, he looked at me in what I can only describe as suspicion. This was, of course, while I was putting my pants on, which would have made it creepy if we weren't best buddies. Although, now I see that it makes it no less dirty. Still, Happy looked at me as I changed before he started laughing.

"And what are you laughing at?" I asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Natsu, but your denial is too precious!" Happy chuckled out. I looked at him in confusion. "Come on, when will you admit that you and Lucy are in looove? !"

"Uh, never…'cause we're not," I said. I'm not entirely sure if I was lying right then or not. Happy certainly seemed to think so, but sometimes he has the mind of a two-year old.

"Right…just tell me when the wedding is, so I can bring Carla as my date." Right, and I'm supposedly the one in denial. I shook my head as I finished slipping on my shirt.

"Sorry, Happy, but I don't think Lucy even knows that you exist."

"Aye! Wouldn't that be awesome if I just showed up? The look on her face would be priceless!" Just from that, I got the faint, niggling suspicion that Happy spied on the two of us. At the very least, it made me ask my next question.

"So, what are you planning on doing today, anyway?" I asked. Our cat buddies tended to vanish during the day doing who knows what, but they hadn't been caught yet, so they must have either left the facility or been incredibly sneaky.

"Exploring," Happy said…well, happily. "Lily, me, and Carla are gonna check out the second floor, while Lector and Frosch wanna spy on Sting and Rogue. Personally, I just want a fish." I sighed, his words only confirming that they spied on us.

I then started thinking about the rest of Happy's words. He and the other members of the self-named Cat Squad A, were planning to explore the mysterious second floor. In truth, neither myself nor the other watchers had ever been close to the second floor. In fact, I don't think I knew a single person who had been to the second floor, which made it all the more a mystery. Of course, I wanted to find out what was up there like any other healthy and curious teen, but I wasn't planning to go there with the threat of the isolation chamber hanging over our heads. I'd only been there once, and it was horrifying.

I was so caught up in these contemplations that I hadn't even noticed Happy swoop back out of the window, but I was able to catch the knock on the door, which meant it was time to join the others. Since the years had passed, and I had been mostly an angel of a patient, the doctors no longer saw the need to escort me there. This was the most freeing thing of my day. So, I popped my pills for the day, heard the door unlock and stepped into the fresh (not really) air of the hallway. I noticed Doctor Erigor walking away and shrugged my shoulders before continuing on. Like our old room, the new room was close by and took only a minute to reach. Just before I was about to enter, I felt a hand slap me on the back. It was Sting.

If the years had been kind to me, then they had probably been positively benevolent to Sting. I've heard most girls refer to him as "super-handsome with the body of a bronzed god". Thankfully, Lucy wasn't part of that most. Either way, I mostly disagreed with that statement, probably because I see him as my little brother than I'm around all the time. Also, probably because at some point he started styling his hair like mine.

"Hey, Natsu-san! Looking forward to today?" he asked, a wide grin splitting his face.

"You sure are happy today," I commented, opening the door to the room and allowing us to step in. On first glance, I noticed that Gajeel and Rogue were already there, but I was too invested in my conversation with Sting to greet them. "So, what're you so happy about?"

"Watch this," he said to me with a wink. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a page from one of his notebooks and tossed it into the air. Then he spat at it, only it wasn't spit. It was more like a laser that went straight through the paper. He then grinned at me as the slightly smoking paper drifted downward. "Pretty cool, huh?"

I could only stare at him, completely exasperated. Gajeel was able to make a move, though, closing the distance between the two of them with a few strides and smacking Sting on the back of the head. "You idiot! What part of 'keeping it a secret' involves whatever the hell you just did?"  
>"But…it's a laser! Isn't it cool, Natsu-san? !" Sting pleaded with me. I wanted to tell him it was super awesome, because it was, but Gajeel's logical argument was all too present. I will admit, it was hard to not agree with Sting when he was staring at me with those shining eyes. I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way, Sting had developed this intense admiration of me. He always seemed to want to show me whatever new skills he had first, and always cheered me on whenever me and Gajeel got into a fight. Rogue was similar towards Gajeel, only he wasn't quite as vocal or exuberant as Sting. Speaking of Rogue, he had also appeared suddenly behind Sting to smack him in the head as well.<p>

"Listen to Gajeel. We don't want to be discovered," he scolded the blonde boy. Sting frowned as he turned to the black-haired boy that had undoubtedly become his best friend.

"That was fast…" Sting mumbled out. "Hey, you hypocrite! You just used your shadowy stuff to get behind me!" I resisted the urge to facepalm. Gajeel resisted the urge to hit them, but failed.

"Shut the hell up!" he almost screamed. Both Sting and Rogue clutched their heads. I can't imagine being hit by iron to be comfortable. "You guys are both idiots! You're lucky no one else is here yet, Ryos and Blonde Salamander." Gajeel had a penchant for giving us nicknames. Rogue was Ryos, I was Salamander, Sting was Blonde Salamander, and Wendy was Kiddo…or just Wendy depending on his mood.

Ironically, as I recalled this, said girl was opening the door to the room and stepping inside. "You guys aren't already fighting today, are you?"

"'Course not," Gajeel answered, looking shiftily to the side.

"Why would we be fighting this early in the morning?" I chimed in. Wendy peered at the two of us suspiciously. I swear, twelve years old and she's more perceptive than all of us combined, except for maybe Rogue. She, out of all of us, had grown up the most in the last seven years. Sure, she still cried on occasion, but she had matured in a way that we hadn't. I'll never admit that out loud, though. Wendy simply huffed out a sigh and turned to Sting, her now very long blue hair bouncing as she did so.

"Sting, Carla wanted me to tell you that she's tired of Lector hitting on her," Wendy said. Sting frowned and scratched the back of his head. See, told you those cats were real.

"I keep trying to tell him that, but he doesn't listen…" Sting informed her with a sigh. That made me think. Maybe Happy wasn't lying about him and Carla after all. It made me chuckle, until I actually looked at Gajeel for the first time that day and wrinkled my nose. He was also the same as ever, piercings dotting his face alongside his scowl. But then I saw-

"Dude, did you comb your hair?" I asked incredulously. This drew the attention of the other three as they all looked at Gajeel as well. His scowl deepened.

"Yeah, well, at least I don't have pink hair you frickin'-" He didn't have time to finish the sentence since the door opened again and Erik strode in. He wasn't alone, either, but the other three kids he was with didn't exactly speak with us and went on their merry way. Erik, however, stopped to raise his eyebrow at us.

"You guys are way too loud. I heard you down the hallway," he said before he moved on. I stuck my tongue out at him. Pointy-eared, hyper-hearing bastard. "I heard that, too."

"So, why did you comb your hair, Gajeel?" Wendy asked innocently. Then again, everything that comes out of her mouth sounds innocent. Gajeel looked ready to blow a gasket. So, I, the ever-kind Natsu Dragneel, decided to tease him.

"It's for Levy, isn't it?" I snickered. Gajeel aimed a sudden blow at me, but I blocked it with my forearm. Years of the two of us fighting had made it pure instinct.

"Shut up! Sometimes I want to look nice! And don't you go say anything when we all know you're looking forward to seeing Bunny Girl, okay? !" Bunny Girl was his nickname for Lucy; obviously because her bag had bunnies on it the day we had met.

"Yeah, sure, but I'm not about to go comb my hair for it. You're such a pansy."

"Oh yeah? Then how would you like this pansy to punch you in the face?" We were probably a hair's breadth from actually brawling when Wendy got in between us.

"Please, guys, let's not fight!" she pleaded. One look into her brown eyes and I turned away. I really couldn't say no to her, so I walked away. So did Gajeel, each of us going to separate corners of the room while we heard Wendy exhale a sigh of relief. Eleven o'clock could not come fast enough. I wasn't going to spend those last two hours alone, though.

"Brothers shouldn't fight, you know," Wendy said, coming to sit next to me. I just waved it off, desperately hoping to move past the subject. I heard Wendy sigh. "I know…I just don't want you guys to get hurt."

"Look, Wendy," I started, turning to look at her, "me and Gajeel like to fight. We always have, okay? But we're not gonna kill each other. As much as we don't want to admit it, we're family."

"Okay," Wendy chirruped. "I hope Lucy is doing well. I can't wait to see her."

"Me too," I said with an emphatic fist to the air. That made Wendy smile and the two of us got to talking about a lot of little things. I mean, there wasn't a whole lot to talk about, having been stuck in this place for a good chunk of our lives (or most, in Wendy's case).

We were mostly left alone in that room, unless we were called out for a meeting with our respective doctors. Mine and Gajeel's was Doctor Erigor, while Sting and Rogue had Doctors Gato and Zato. Wendy had the nicest doctor of all of us in the form of Doctor Richard. Erik and his little crew, on the other hand, got stuck with the head of the facility, Doctor Brain. In fact, after an hour of chatting with Wendy, said doctor came in and called Erik out for his meeting. I found that strange, mostly because we never had meetings in the morning, and because it was usually the assistants that fetched us. Still, what was I really going to do? I just ignored the weirdness and continued on with the game that Wendy and I had started to play.

I was so caught up in winning it, that I didn't even notice our new arrival until Wendy smiled brightly and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Lucy standing there, still dressed in summer clothes and with her blonde hair pulled up to the side. Attached to her chest (which, as I've mentioned, isn't exactly hard to miss) was the visitor/volunteer badge. I instantly stood and the two of us did our extremely complicated handshake. It's so complicated that I couldn't possibly hope to describe it here.

"Hi, Lucy, how are you?" Wendy asked happily. I never had outright asked her, but I think that Wendy saw Lucy as an older sister. That's probably why she was so comfortable around her.

"I'm good, Wendy. How are you guys?" Lucy answered back, taking a seat next to me. She gave our game a passing glance before turning her gaze back on me.

"We're awesome!" I responded. "So, how are things in the outside world? Anything going on?"

"A lot, actually," Lucy said. She placed her bag down and pulled out her phone. I noticed that, behind her, Gajeel was speaking with Levy. "Apparently, the Magnolia Police Chief died last night. Murdered, actually." My brow furrowed. Even after all this time, I remembered exactly what Chief Seam looked like. It was almost hard to believe that he was dead. Well, I guess being murdered is a little different. In some small way, though, I felt it was irony and karma all rolled into one.

"That's horrible!" Wendy exclaimed. Of course, she didn't know the man, so it would be hard for her to think any differently. "Do they have any suspects?"

"No clue," Lucy said with a shrug. "All the police are saying is that it wasn't natural causes, but apparently they have no real idea how it happened. It's like he just dropped dead."

"Freaky…" I mused aloud, though inside I couldn't have cared less about the death of Chief Seam. It probably sounds horrible and someone's death _is_ rather sad, but it wasn't like the guy had done me any favors. "So, what else is going on? The school year's started, right?"

"Yeah, and let me tell you, senior year is crazy at Magnolia Academy!" Lucy said with a brilliant smile. "Levy got named as president of the book club and our varsity team won their first game of the year. One of my best friends apparently has a boyfriend, but she won't even tell us who he is. Most importantly, though, is this."

At those words, she flashed me her phone and I got a face full of the picture that was there. It was Lucy wearing a cheerleader uniform. I won't lie: she looked hot. Wendy just clapped her hands together and told Lucy she looked pretty in it. I took a moment longer to compose my thoughts so that I didn't give away what I was actually thinking. "So…why are you wearing a cheerleader uniform?"

"I made cheer captain," she answered happily, though there were hints of a frown on her face. "Don't you remember? I told you I was going for the position last month."

"Sure, yeah, but what does that have to do with wearing a cheerleader uniform?" I asked, hoping it would conceal the fact that I had no idea what she was talking about. She didn't deign the question with a response. I wasn't sure if that meant she was pissed at me or forgave me. Either way, I wasn't about to pursue the subject. "So, how's everything been going since your dad…?"

"Oh, it's been okay," she said quietly. Surprisingly, there was a small smile on her face. "It has been a little hard since dad died in June, but at least Levy, Yukino and the others have been really supportive. Helps that all my schooling is paid for."

"Yeah," I breathed, absentmindedly placing a comforting hand on hers. She looked at me and I could have sworn I saw a tint of red flash across her cheeks. The two of us were trapped in that moment until we heard Wendy giggle. I pulled away first and put my hands behind my head, intent on acting like it all meant nothing.

"So, what's it like being cheer captain?" Wendy asked. My eyes slowly moved over to her and I frowned a little. I knew Wendy, and could hear that slight undertone of sadness in her voice. She had never had the chance to really go to a regular school. Hearing Lucy's stories was the closest she had ever gotten.

"Lots of fun actually, although it is a lot of work," Lucy admitted sheepishly. "Since Magnolia Academy has so many age groups, I have to oversee them all so I get to deal with twelve year-olds like you to seniors like that…" Here, Lucy paused. I smirked a little. No doubt she was trying to think of an alternate word to the one she really wanted to use since she was near Wendy. "Well, I have to deal with some stuck-up seniors, but thankfully my junior captain Coco is really helpful."

"Sounds like fun," Wendy admitted. "So, as a cheer captain you must have a lot of boyfriends, huh?" For some reason, this topic of conversation made me very uncomfortable. It seemed to make Lucy uncomfortable as well, because she gave off a trembling giggle.

"No, actually," Lucy admitted softly. "I don't really have the time, I guess. I've gotten a few rather persistent offers for Homecoming, but I've turned them down. Just waiting for the right guy, I guess."

"I'm sure you'll find him." I made it an absolute point to not even look at Wendy after she said that. That's when I heard the door open.

"Natsu, time for a session," came the all-too familiar and unpleasant voice of Doctor Erigor. I turned around in my seat to look at him with his stupid hair and smug grin. I so wanted to punch him one day.

"But it's not our usual day, and Lucy's here," I countered. Doctor Erigor fixed me with a nasty look, but after seven long years, I'd stopped withering from it.

"Now," he barked in response. I was starting to think that was his favorite word. Reluctantly, I pushed myself up and headed for the door. I didn't want the isolation chamber for defying him.

"See you later, Lucy!"

"Yeah…Bye, Natsu," she said, her brow creased in confusion. I was no more enlightened than she was. With a slight groan, I followed the doctor out of the room and into one of the small patient rooms that was used for our meetings with the doctors. I had barely sat down when the doctor practically went down my throat with questions.

"How have you been lately? Any visions? What about the others? Have you been taking your medicine?" he asked in rapid fire succession. My head whirled for a moment but I eventually got it back on.

"Fine, no, they're fine. And yes, I still take my medicine every day, but I might stop if you keep treating me like a nutcase just ready to snap," I yelled at him. Doctor Erigor lifted a solitary eyebrow at me and jot down some notes on his clipboard.

"Is there a reason you're particularly angry, today?"

"Yeah, I was having a nice time with Lucy and Wendy when you pulled me away for this crap. It's not even our usual day," I said testily. "Honestly, where do you get off acting like we're not even human."

"We are only worried about your mental health, Natsu," Doctor Erigor stated calmly. Yeah, and I'm smarter than Levy. I do realize I just insulted myself.

"I'm perfectly healthy, okay? No weird visions, working body. Everything's fine." Doctor Erigor examined me a moment before giving me a positively feral grin.

"Shall we test that, then?" I wish I hadn't agreed to it; but what choice did I really have? I was subjected to a long sessions of questioning and Doctor Erigor even ran some physical tests that I won't bore you with. Needless to say, I think he enjoyed it all a little too much. All I knew was that by the time we were done and I had returned to the room, I saw Wendy reading a book and Lucy was already gone.

I was so pent up with frustration over the situation and Doctor Erigor's asshole attitude that I headed straight for the workout area and used it to work off some steam. I saw Wendy glance at me worriedly once or twice but I ignored her. Time with Lucy and my family was one of the few bright spots I got in this hellhole, and they were trying to take even that away from me. It was unfair! I wasn't some caged animal, but they always tried to treat us like that. Today was just the icing on the cake. I punched the punching bag in front of me. Usually, I imagined it to be Gajeel, or even my old friend Gray, but today all I saw was Doctor Erigor.

I hated him. I hated all of them. I was sick of being here. Seven years with no contact from your old life, with everybody thinking you were crazy would do that to you. Especially when you hadn't heard from your own father in that whole time. I didn't realize it before it was too late, but I hit the bag so hard it swung off the stand, partially smoking. My favorite tool, gone. I went back to the table and saw the remnants of mine and Wendy's uncompleted game. That was my life in here: incomplete. With a cry of rage, I shoved the game off the table.

It didn't earn a glance from anyone. As a matter of fact, I only realized as the day finally came to an end that there were a lot less people in the room, and that those who were there all kept to themselves. It didn't concern me. I was just a little glad to return to my room since it felt like one of the few places I wasn't under their thumb. Judging by Gajeel's grunt and Wendy's silence, they probably felt the same way. I hadn't seen Sting or Rogue, or even Erik that whole rest of the day.

My bed didn't feel comfortable that night. It just felt like rocks; rocks that I felt like picking up and throwing.

Happy didn't show up that night, either. When I awoke the next morning, he still wasn't there. What were there were my usual orange pills, sitting calmly on the table next to my notebook. I swiped them and was about to take them when I paused. Why should I? I knew I wasn't crazy, and I knew these pills weren't helping. So why did I take them every morning? The cup they were in crumpled slightly in my hand as I heard the knock on the door for that day. Decision time was here, and I decided that the answer was finally no. I sprang onto my bed and quickly hauled the pills out the open window. Then I put the cup down and left the room.

The halls of the facility seemed quieter than normal, but I was honestly so angry that I barely even noticed, since that anger was keeping a ceaseless cadence in my head. I banged open the door to the main room and nearly ran into both Gajeel and Wendy, a scowl on my face.

"What's your problem?" Gajeel growled at me.

"What's yours?" I snapped back. Gajeel folded his arms as he continued to glare at me.

"Blonde Salamander and Ryos ain't here. Nobody's seen them since yesterday." That stopped me from pouring my anger onto Gajeel. I took that time to think, instead. I hadn't seen them, either, and it had certainly been strange. A different voice interrupted my thoughts.

"So, you haven't seen him, too," said a small voice and the three of us looked down to see two cats approaching. The one that had talked had brown fur, while next to him was a greenish furred one wearing a pink frog suit (no, I have no idea where he got it from). This was Lector and Frosch. Gajeel instantly glared at them.

"What the hell are you guys doing here? !" he roared. "You know you can't be seen."

"But…but I can't find Sting-kun!" said Lector, Sting's cat. Frosch was Rogue's cat…I can't really describe it.

"Fro can't find Rogue, either!" Frosch cried out. Gajeel finally stopped glaring at them and looked to me and Wendy instead. It was my turn to cross my arms.

"Where could they be?" I asked aloud.

"We might have a clue," came a rather posh voice from above us. We all looked up now and saw three cats hovering in the air. One of them was Happy. The others were Carla and Pantherlily. Carla had been the one to speak, but all three of them looked extremely exhausted.

"Carla, where have you been?' Wendy cried out, barely catching the descending Carla in her arms.

"You too, Happy. Why didn't you stop by last night?" I said towards my blue buddy. My angry tone came through slightly, but Happy looked far too exhausted to notice.

"I'm sorry, Natsu, but we were hiding all night," Happy sighed out.

"From what?" Gajeel questioned. Pantherlily, Gajeel's black cat, floated down to the table and rested upon it before answering.

"The guards on the second floor," he told us. "We saw some scary things up there."

"Like what?" Wendy asked tremulously. Pantherlily took a deep breath before answering her.

"Like Sting and Rogue," he answered sternly. Lector and Frosch looked as relieved as I felt for a moment. It was just for that moment, though. "They were strapped to operating tables with a bunch of the facility staff surrounding them. We tried to get close, but we couldn't tell what it was. All I can say is that I know it wasn't shock therapy."

"Aye…It was really weird…" Happy moaned out with a shiver. I held on to him for a moment before putting him next to Lily. Carla still didn't say anything, while we all remained enraptured by Lily's story.

"We don't know much about after that. All we saw was a great flash of light. All we heard was their screaming."

"That's horrible!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Just what the hell are they doing up there? !" Gajeel yelled. I could just barely share the same sentiments as I felt my fists clench and that telltale heat settle into my body.

"So, first they wanna treat us like caged animals, and now we're lab rats!" Before I could stop it, I felt my body erupt in flames. Yet, at the same time, I felt I could control it. Gajeel and Wendy didn't think quite the same because they jumped away.

"Are you an idiot? We're supposed to keep this secret!" Gajeel snapped at me. I turned my own glare on him, the fire around me burning even brighter, yet I didn't feel it burning my skin.

"I don't care!" I yelled, my voice echoing around the practically empty room. "I'm sick of living by their rules. I'm done with all of them and their insistence that we're crazy."

"Natsu…" Wendy breathed out fearfully. "Just what are you planning to do?"

I answered her by punching my fist into one of my open palms, the fire there flashing out. I was ready for a fight.

"I'm breaking all of us out of here right now!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm not entirely sure how well I did with this chapter. There was a lot of information all having to lead up to that setup. I hope I presented it in an organic way. Part 1 is a lot of set up, though. Well, either way, I hope you enjoyed it. As for this weeks new Fairy tail chapter: I totally called it! I knew Zeref created the demons in order to kill him, which makes the chances of Natsu being E.N.D. shoot through the roof. That's all I have for now. Thanks to all my reviewers, favs and follows. I look forward to hearing your opinions on this chapter so please Review and Dare to Be Silly.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Action scenes are fulfilling to write but incredibly difficult because they have to be planned to the last detail. I hope my action scenes paint the right scenes for you. Time for Chapter 3!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

"That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard!"

"But Natsu, that's…that's…impossible!"

"Listen to the kid, Salamander." Well, that reaction could have been better. Sure, I had expected Wendy to think breaking out would be a bad idea, but Gajeel always struck me as having more spine than that. I wasn't about to be deterred, though.

"No, I'm sick and tired of sitting around here," I snapped. Inside, I still felt angry, but looking at Gajeel's snarling face and the tears in Wendy's eyes, I was able to recede the fire around my body. In hindsight, it felt pretty cool to be able to control fire like that. "How much longer are we going to wait, hoping for our parents to appear? Hoping for somebody besides Lucy and Levy to believe us?"

"I believe you, Natsu," Happy muttered out. I smiled a little as I pat him on the head. Hearing him calmed me down a little and reminded me of the old angry feeling I had when I first came to this place. I was always in trouble, always struggling. Quite honestly, it was only once I had formed our little family that I stopped making a scene. Now, my family was taken, and that meant I was done being a good little patient.

"I think it's time we breathed some fresh air," I growled, my comment mostly aimed toward Gajeel. His scowl deepened, but he still seemed at a loss for words.

"Don't be a coward, Gajeel," Lily scolded, his arms folded in a surly pose. Gajeel rounded on his cat with wide eyes.

"I ain't being a coward, Lily! I'm just considering my options."

"At this point, I'd say your options are limited." Lily then flew up to Gajeel's shoulder and looked me in the eyes. "I'll stick with you, no matter your decision, but I'd honestly like to leave and see more of the town with you than this place."

"Lily…you…" I could tell that Gajeel was frustrated, but for the first time, I took very little pleasure in that fact. I was hoping he'd overcome that frustration and choose to help me. Honestly, I didn't think I could do it all on my own. Gajeel fidgeted in place for a moment, his uneven steps telling me how much this idea was disturbing to him. Finally, he yelled loudly and jabbed his pointer finger in my chest. "Fine. Let's get the hell out of here, but I hope you have a plan."

"Of course I do!" I replied triumphantly. I really didn't…well, I did, but it was more of a "break through everything that moves" sort of plan. Gajeel didn't need to know that, though. Now having his agreement, I turned to the only person who could derail our plans: Wendy. "Well, what do you say?"

"I don't know…it'll be pretty dangerous, won't it?" she said nervously.

"Now, child, you can't let a little danger stop you," Carla remonstrated her, having recovered somewhat.

"Besides, if we do get into trouble, you know we'll protect you, kiddo," Gajeel said with a pat to Wendy's head. Wendy's head dipped a little bit, as if thinking. Eventually, though, she nodded and looked up to me with those shining eyes I'd come to know so well.

"As long as I'm with all of you guys, it doesn't matter where we go." That was all I needed to grin at her widely.

"Let's bust out of here, then! I'm all fired up!" To emphasize my point, I ran at the door. Inside me, the fire flared considerably as I struck out with my fist and slammed it into the door. For a moment, it was strange, but I felt my own fist become as hard as Gajeel when he became iron. The fire split outward, increasing the impact into the door. That same door flew off its hinges in a blazing hunk, slamming into the wall on the other side. I grinned manically at the euphoric feeling that gave me. Gajeel wasn't so happy.

"The hell, Salamander? Do we have to go breaking down every door in the place?" he screamed at me. Well, it wasn't like we were planning to make a quiet escape.

"I don't care if I tear this entire place down." I admired. Gajeel would have retorted, but he was cut off by the klaxon alarm that sounded through the building. Well, I was pretty sure they knew what we were doing now. Ignoring Gajeel's would-be remark, I walked through the hole that was once a door and noticed Kageyama standing there, his legs shaking and sweat pouring from his pores. "Hey, Kage! We're breaking out. Wanna come?"

"M…monster!" he squealed before scrambling off. Well, that wasn't very nice of him. Still, I shrugged. If he chose not to take the opportunity, it wasn't my problem. I mean, it wasn't like we had become close or something.

"So, what's the plan now, Salamander?" Gajeel asked, joining me in the hallway. A small thundering was heard at the opposite end and I figured that the doctors and guards were making a move to sedate us. I wasn't about to let that happen.

"Good old Plan T!" I proclaimed loudly. Gajeel and Wendy looked at me like I'd lost my mind. For the record, I hadn't.

"That's a dumb plan," Gajeel argued back. "You really want to take everyone on to get out of here."

"If it's for Sting-kun, I'll fight the world!" Lector argued.

"Fro, too!" Gajeel scowled at the pair of them, but ended up scoffing a moment later.

"You guys are all a bunch of idiots," he said with a smirk. By now, I could see the first guard, armed with what I presume was a tranquilizer gun. He rounded the corner and began to take aim at the group of us. "Gee hee…I love idiotic plans like that, though. They make the most sense."

I barely even saw it. The guard fired at me, the tranquilizer dart sailing straight for my chest. Gajeel moved to the side, coming to stand in front of me. In an instant, his body was covered with those hard iron scales and the dart simply bounced off his body. The guard screamed, but not for long before Gajeel had closed the distance and hit him over the head. That must have hurt. Then he turned to me with a positively feral grin that I couldn't help but mimic.

"All right, Metal Head, you take Wendy, Carla and Pantherlily and make us a path to the front," I ordered him. He didn't take it lying down.

"Usually, I don't take orders from you," he snapped, still wearing that grin. "But for now, I'll make an exception. Come on, kiddo! Let's get out of here."

Wendy looked between the both of us before approaching me and wrapping her arms around my torso in a hug. "Be careful, okay?"

"You too, Wendy." I gave her a quick pat to the head and she ran towards Gajeel, who was already beating a path out of the hall, his iron footsteps sounding impossibly loud in the hall. "All right, Lector, Frosch, you wanna see Sting and Rogue, right? Don't worry, we'll find them. Happy, show us the way!"

"Aye, sir!" my blue buddy responded, and he took off in the direction opposite of Gajeel. I sprinted after him, Lector flying just behind Happy, and Frosch surprisingly keeping pace even on the ground. It didn't take long for me to see the elevator that would lead up to the second floor. I hoped it was working.

Another clomping of footsteps was rumbling through the hallway and I could practically smell the sedatives in the air. Fire wrapped itself around my fists and I saw the guards round the corner to take aim at me. Some were surprised at the sight of myself on fire and the three cats; others were more of a "shoot first, ask questions later" kind of people. Thankfully, I wasn't there to fight. Instead, I dashed forward, those years of working out aiding my speed greatly. I reached the first guard in seconds and slammed my fist into his face. He flew backward, a stream of fire from my hands going with him. That fire spread just like an inferno and slammed all of the guards into the walls. I hoped I hadn't seriously hurt them, but a knocked out guard was better than a shooting one.

"Over here, Natsu!" Happy called. I left the assortment of guards on the ground and followed Happy to what was clearly an elevator…that had no lights on.

"It doesn't look like it's working," Lector pointed out dejectedly. I just looked up at him and smiled.

"Then we'll make it work." With those words, I grabbed the elevator doors and focused. The fire from my hands spread outward and after a moment, I felt the heat on the metal begin to melt it, creating a hole in the elevator doors. I grit my teeth and pushed harder, feeling my body start to strain to its limits. My hands found a good griping place with the hole I had created and I dug in. A great cry erupted from my mouth as I finally pushed the doors open. They didn't open all the way, but it was enough. I also doubted that they would ever close again.

I took a step forward and nearly plummeted to my death. The elevator wasn't at this level. In fact, the elevator seemed to be below me as I looked down. I was pretty sure that fall would have hurt, had I taken it. I looked down and saw that the cables which seemed to hold the elevator had been cut. They knew I was coming, and they were trying every means possible to stop me from getting there. Without the ability to fly, that was starting to look like a real possibility, too. Wait…flying…My head snapped up to Happy, who was hovering concernedly.

"Hey, Happy, think you can fly me up there?" I asked him. Happy turned to me and seemed to think for a moment.

"Aye! I can try!" That was Happy for you: undaunted by any challenge I gave him. Happy descended slightly and grabbed me by my shirt. I could tell from his breath on my neck that it was a bit of a strain, but I also felt my feet leave the ground. "Hold on, Natsu! Max speed!"

My body shot upward, held firmly in Happy's small hands as he started flying towards the top of the elevator shaft. Lector and Frosch ascended with us. We got about halfway up the shaft when I heard the faint clicking noise. I looked and saw three people stationed at the elevator door on the second floor, firing down at us. "Evasive maneuvers, Happy!"

Happy said nothing, but swooped and swirled me every which way to avoid the shots, all while maintaining our increase in altitude. My head was rattled a little, but I was able to get it straight before we reached the same level as the trigger happy guards. As if on instinct, Happy flew me straight towards them and let go. I angled my body, hopefully, in the right way and my feet, now on fire like my hands, slammed into one of them and exploded towards the other guards. The force knocked them unconscious. I was on the second floor.

My first thought was that it was creepy. I was standing in a narrow hallway with nothing but frosted glass panes to either side of me. Each of them was labeled, too, in these big white letters. Striding down the hall, I noticed that it said some really weird things on the door. Things like "Six Prayers", "Amplification Room", and "Lacrima Implant Room". There was also a door at the far end labeled "Hell's Core". I didn't go anywhere near it. Oh, and did I mention how eerily silent it was. That was just enhanced by the fact that I couldn't see into the rooms at all.

Well, as my adventure with that dragon seven years ago proved, I was nothing if not curious. I also hadn't the faintest clue where Sting and Rogue were. So, I walked over to one of the five rooms labeled "Six Prayers" and attempted to enter the room. The door was, naturally, locked. Like every other door in this facility, though, I had an assured alternate means of entering the room: break it down. With one punch, I burned my way through the door and strode boldly into the room.

The sight before me stopped me cold.

Erik was lying on a bed, his body and his limbs draped over the side like he'd just been dumped there. He was shirtless too, with a small, thin, almost indiscernible scar running along his chest. It was purple in color, just like this weird foam that was coming out of his mouth. I didn't know much about anatomy, beyond what Wendy had tried to teach me, but I did know how to test a pulse. I walked over to his head and tapped my fingers to his neck. Nothing. There was no pulse, no breathing, and as I looked at his distressed face, I noticed that one of his eyes had been sliced across. There was no doubt it my mind now. Erik had been poisoned. And that made me very angry. It was just further proof that we were little more than disposable insects to them.

"Natsu-kun, we found Sting-kun!" I heard Lector's voice call to me. I sighed before frowning down on Erik's lifeless body. His other eye was open, so I reached over and closed it.

"Goodbye," I whispered before following Lector's voice to its source. The three cars were outside the room labeled as the "Lacrima Implant Room". Happy and Frosch were propping the door open with difficulty while Lector had already started going towards Sting's side. I swear, that cat admires Sting like Sting admires me. Now wasn't the time to dwell on it, however. We were still making our escape after all.

"Sting-kun! Sting-kun! Wake up!" Lector cried helplessly as I joined him at Sting's side. My blonde haired brother was strapped to what looked like an operating table as naked as the day he was born. The thought of what they might have done to him sickened me. Rogue was on another table next to him. I also, gratefully, noticed some clothes in the corner. Escaping with them in the nude would not be cool.

"Lector…" croaked out Sting's voice. He seemed to be coming to, so I went to work, trying to un-strap him from the operating table. I'll admit it; it was too confusing for me, so I chose to just burn the straps off. Sting noticed. "Natsu-san, you're here, too?"

"Yeah, so shut up so we can get out of here," I said to him. The strap I was working on suddenly sprang apart from the heat and I moved on to the next. In no time at all, I had undone all three straps. I saw Sting wiggle his toes, but he didn't get up. I, instead, went over to Rogue, who was unconscious.

"Natsu-san…I can't really move…" Sting said to me once I had finished un-strapping Rogue. I turned to him with wide eyes. Instantly, I assumed the worst. He was paralyzed. Whatever they had done to him had destroyed his body. He was pretty quick to allay that fear, though. "I mean, I feel everything. My body's just too exhausted to move."

"Then I'll just have to carry you. Either way, we're getting out of here," I told him, grabbing the clothes I saw. I tossed them to Sting, and Lector began dressing him immediately. Sting gave me a grin at my statement, though.

"Should have known that's what you were doing," he said. He also seemed to be gaining some mobility back because he was lifting his arms and attempting to sit up. While he was doing that, I was dressing Rogue. _He_ was absolutely no help, which meant he didn't get any underwear either. Sorry, by my hands do not touch another man's junk. Sting, meanwhile, felt his chest. "You know, I think…they put something inside me…"

"Save the talk for later. We gotta get moving. Lector, you help Frosch carry Rogue. I'll take care of Sting here," I said. What Sting said did bother me a little, but I was the kind of guy who lived in the moment, which meant that it was an issue I'd deal with if I ever needed to. Hopefully never. Instead, I had all other kinds of issues on hand.

"Natsu, we've got some guys coming after us!" Happy suddenly warned me. I growled loudly, a dark grimace stretching my face as I heaved Sting over my shoulders. Happy watched me struggle for a moment. "Okay, Natsu, I'll distract them, but you owe me a fish later."

"Fine, but it's gonna be a cheap one," I grunted out under Sting's weight. Happy laughed a little and gave me a thumbs up. Then he flew off. I'm pretty sure I have the best buddy in the world. I gave a quick look to see Lector and Frosch holding Rogue up, making him look kind of like a puppet on strings. It was slightly unsettling, but I gave a jerk of my head to indicate that they should follow me. I slammed the door open after that.

Sounds rushed into my ears, which made me figure that Happy was running his interference with the guards. Part of me wanted to go and help him out, but I also had faith that he'd pull through and meet us by the entrance. Knowing that, I turned in the direction of the elevator and dashed for it. Only when my feet had reached that precipice over the elevator shaft did I realize my mistake. I really shouldn't have left Happy behind, because it was a long way down and he had been my only means of transport. Sure, I could wait for Lector and Frosch to dump Rogue and then come and get me, but in this kind of situation, that was a really dumb idea.

I looked down the shaft and saw the box of light that was clearly the first floor landing. My lips cemented into a frown. How in the hell was I supposed to get there without breaking mine or Sting's neck? I probably stood there wondering for a good thirty seconds before a brilliant idea entered my brain. Focusing on my feet, I saw the flames surround them and I knew that even though there was only a slim chance of my idea working, it was a chance I was willing to take.

"Hold on, Sting, this might be rough." He didn't answer, but I did feel his hands grip me just a little tighter, like he was afraid of falling off. Yeah, I wasn't that confident either. Still, I took the leap off the ledge, headfirst towards that little block of light. I also closed my eyes. I didn't want to see it, in case I met a grisly end. Then I focused on the flames surrounding me feet again, willing them to shoot out like a jetpack. It worked, and I shot forward, closer to the door than before.

I overshot a little, though, (which I realized when I opened my eyes) and almost missed my mark. Sting was, gratefully, still holding on tight, so I flailed my hands around like a madman. My fingers finally clutched on the bottom of the elevator landing and I exhaled in relief. Lector and Frosch hovered overhead, dumping the _still_ unconscious Rogue on the landing. To my relief, they turned around and took Sting from my back, allowing me to crawl up and catch my breath.

There wasn't time for that.

"Natsu-san!" It was a brief cry that I heard, my neck snapping up to see what was wrong. I couldn't see it at first because Sting's body was flitting in front of me, giving off an anguished cry that pierced me ears. My eyes followed him as he landed on the floor and clutched his forehead. There was a brief moment where Sting removed his hand and I could see the gash right above his right eyebrow, making a cross shape with it. There wasn't a tremendous amount of bleeding, but it must have hurt.

Anger coursed through me again. There was no way that was just a sedative. It was quite plainly a shot to kill, or at least injure. The reason didn't matter; I hated the person who had done it. Wreathed with flames again, I stood and faced our assailant. All at the sight of who it was, a million emotions surged through me: anger, frustration, sadness, and then, finally, a happiness that made a grin stretch my face wide. The reason for all this was because the person standing before me was Erigor. He no longer looked like the ferocious doctor I had known before. No, he was wearing a snarl on his face with his hand outstretched. It was weird, because there wasn't a weapon on it, but at the moment, I didn't care. I ran at him.

"Don't get in our way, Erigor!" The man was silent as I dashed at him. My head was aimed low, like I was going to drive it into his stomach, and I felt something whoosh overhead, like an enormous gust of wind. Sure, it was strange, but I could care less as my head snapped up and my flame-covered fist aimed right for Erigor's stupid face. "I've been waiting to do this for seven whole years!"

Then it made contact and Erigor sailed backwards, slamming into the far wall and crumpling against it with a grunt. I smirked and turned back to Sting and Rogue. Rogue was starting to stir, but like Sting earlier, I could tell he wasn't up for moving yet. Sting, however, was leaning against the wall, still clutching his forehead. For some reason, there was also a giant crater in the wall just next to him. I didn't have the time to pay attention to it, so I slung Sting's arm around my shoulder, instead.

"Thanks for the heads up," I said to him. "Now let's get out of here."

Sting nodded groggily; that cut must have been taking its toll. Lector and Frosch continued to carry Rogue right behind us as he coughed loudly. I ignored it in favor of increasing my speed along the hallways. All along our path were the bodies of guards and doors that had clearly gotten in Gajeel's way towards the entrance. Well, if it made my path easier, I could accept it. All too soon, though, the sounds of the obvious battle up ahead reached my ears.

"Sounds like Gajeel's putting up a fight," Rogue croaked out. I spared him a slight glance, wondering how he could have known that until I heard the distinctive "gee hee". Yep, totally Gajeel; only he would make such a stupid laugh. It made me speed up even more since I couldn't let him have all the fun.

As I turned the corner, I first saw the large glass doors, surprisingly still intact, that were a looming invitation to our only way out of this place. Then there was the massive group of guards infesting that space. Gajeel was busy trying to bust through all of them, but one look and I knew he was exhausted. I put Sting against the wall and began to make my way to his side. Essentially, I greeted him by punching one guard so hard that he toppled a bunch of the others over.

"'Bout damn time, Salamander!" Gajeel snapped at me. Suddenly, I felt his back against me, as though we were minimizing our damage box. From that position, I could see Wendy dashing over to Sting and examining the cut on his forehead. Lily and Carla were with her now, both in the air. Kinda funny that we tried to conceal that secret for so long only for us to reveal it so easily.

"I had to pick some stuff up," I snapped back at Gajeel. "Do you have a plan, Metal Head?"

"Sure do. Punch them out good, right down the middle!" I grinned at that one.

"Sounds like my kind of plan," I told him. "I like it."

"Thought you might…not that I care," he shot back. His head then turned towards our convalescing members. "Lily, White Cat, carry Blonde Salamander. He looks like he can barely stand up. Salamander, let's bust out of here!"

I didn't need telling twice. We moved at the same instant, turning towards the guards stationed just in front of the entrance. Then we took a step forward and punched the first guard that approached. Fire shot from my fist like a stream, blasting forward through the pack of guards. Gajeel's attack did much the same, his fist slamming out like flexible metal. In mere seconds, the guards had tumbled away from our path. We didn't even need to tell everyone else to get a move on; we just started running for the exit, our escape from this wretched place almost completed. At least, until I underestimated Wendy's clumsiness.

"Aah!" came the cry from behind us. Gajeel and I whipped around to see Wendy on the floor, having obviously tripped over hr own feet. The others had already joined us and Carla cried Wendy's name in trepidation. I would have joined her, but my mind had already zoomed ahead to jumping back into the fray to save her. Unfortunately, the guards were already surrounding her.

"She's the smallest. If we get her, the others will give up!" one of them yelled. I snarled loudly, sounding like a vicious beast. There was no way I would ever let that happen.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I screamed, but it was drowned amidst Wendy's cry.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed. It sounded so frightened that I had no choice but to dash back towards the guards. I only went a few steps before I suddenly stopped. There was something off in that moment. I could feel it in my bones. Like an awakening of some sort that I felt deep in my heart.

Gajeel felt it, too, because he suddenly yelled, "Get behind me!" I knew in that moment it was what I had to do. So, I backtracked and dove behind Gajeel's iron body.

The storm was let loose only seconds later. Wendy was curled into a ball on the floor as the guards took aim. That split second of hesitation doomed them. Wind began swirling around Wendy's small figure as she screamed. Then it exploded out like a hurricane and whipped across the entranceway. I stuck behind Gajeel, himself having a hard time staying upright under Wendy's burst of power. My hand found Sting's, who was grasping Rogue tightly. The guards weren't as lucky. Each of them scattered, slamming into the walls. I found myself equal parts freaked and proud; freaked at the immense power Wendy was putting forth, and proud that she took out more guards than me and Metal Head combined.

"Are those Wendy's powers?" Rogue called out over the winds, himself seeming to recover.

"Girl's got a set of lungs on her!" Sting said. I agreed, but we were faced with a far more pressing problem: how did we get Wendy out of that swirling vortex? My answer came a few seconds later.

"Wendy, it's okay!" cried a voice from the air. I looked up to see Happy brutally fighting his way through the fierce winds. I smiled a little, glad that he had made it. As Happy continued to descend, I heard the sound of shattering glass behind me. My gaze cast backwards and I saw that the doors had completely shattered from the force. I turned back in time to see Happy reach Wendy and place a paw on her.

The effect was instantaneous. Wendy relaxed at the comforting touch, the wind around her dying down. She was breathing heavily for a moment before slumping over and passing out. Instantly, I let go of Sting and ran to her, picking her little body up in my arms. It wasn't that hard, and there was no danger since Wendy had demolished all the guards. As I held her there, I could hear her breath coming faintly from her mouth. She was alive, but needed rest. I looked to Gajeel, who finally relaxed, the iron scales receding from his body.

"I think we're free to leave," Gajeel huffed out, himself looking almost ready to pass out. "After all, they opened the door for us…gee hee…"

"Right," I said, making strides toward the doors…well, now they were more like holes in the wall. "Happy, you and the others shouldn't go flying around or talk. We don't want people on the outside freaking out."

"Aye!" Happy said, dropping to the ground and pretending to act like a normal cat. I would have been fooled…if he wasn't blue.

"We should get the lay of the land outside, and probably some first aid for Sting and Wendy before making our next move," Rogue told us, ever the wise one. I only nodded, already feeling the strain of the day on my body. Sting stood and put an arm around me while Rogue did the same to Gajeel.

"Well, let's go!" I said with the best grin I could muster in my state. Then I took the first steps out of the facility and into a whole new world.

I knew from the name of the facility that we were still in Magnolia, but I had no idea just how far in we actually were. Unlike the suburbs where I had lived most of my life, we were deeper into the town where some high rise buildings that were no doubt apartments or businesses loomed before us. This was New Magnolia, the part of town far more modern than where I had lived (but still part of Magnolia proper). This place was made all the more imposing by the fact that the sun was gleaming high in the sky, making the buildings shiny and reflective. There were also people…lots of people who were staring at us.

"Just a little accident," Gajeel growled at them. "Nothing to see." I don't think they wanted to protest the man with big scary piercings all over his face.

"So, where to now? Who could help us?" Sting asked.

"We could try to find Levy," Gajeel suggested. I promptly rolled my eyes at his suggestion.

"Do you know where she lives?" I asked. Metal Head tensed up. The answer was obviously "no". "All right, let's go to one of these buildings. They're bound to have something we could use."

"Who put you in charge?" Gajeel snapped, getting his bearings back.

"Did you live in Magnolia before?"

"No, I lived in Oak Town."

"Well, I did live here, so it makes me in charge!" I said, glaring at him fiercely. He reciprocated the action before finally relenting. I nodded triumphantly and started heading for the first brick building I saw. I guessed that it was probably an apartment complex and figured they would have some sort of first aid kit there to help us. I felt great relief to find that the door into the building wasn't locked, so we stepped inside. No one stopped us.

The inside was dazzling. Carpeted floors covered every square inch of the place and an enormous crystal chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. No one was around, but I could see a dining area to the right. On the left was what looked like a concierge desk. There was no doubt this place was for some swanky people. As I took my surroundings in, someone exited from the door behind the concierge desk wearing a uniform. I was pretty sure that he was a worker here. He had blue hair, a tattoo on his face, and his eyes were narrowed at us in curiosity.

"Can I help you?" he asked, approaching us warily. I wasn't sure how to answer. Thankfully, Rogue was quick enough on his feet to lie for all of us.

"We're being chased by some bad people, and some of us are injured," he told the boy who looked to be around our age. Okay, it wasn't a total lie.

"I have some first aid supplies in the backroom," he said, pointing towards the door he'd just come out of. "Is that all you need?"

"Aye!" I'm not sure which of us groaned first at Happy's slip up. Of course, Carla felt the need to worsen it.

"Happy, you're supposed to keep your mouth shut!" she remonstrated him.

"Fro thinks so, too!" Myself and Gajeel were ready to strangle all of them, Sting groaned, Rogue shook his head, and Wendy kept on breathing softly in my arms. The boy, however, stopped and stared at us in even more suspicion.

"Did your cats just talk?" he asked. We all shared a momentary glance before collectively answering.

"No." It obviously didn't abate his suspicious because he continued starting at us until his eyes widened.

"You're…" I tilted my head to the side, utterly confused at what he was startled about. "Quick, into the backroom. All of you!"

I'm not entirely sure what it was, but upon his insistence, I felt I could trust this boy. He whipped around and aimed for the back door. I followed him, with the others right behind me. Something about this boy was strange, though not in a bad way. He hadn't been entirely surprised by Happy and the others talking, and he was even willing to help us. There had to be a reason why he was helping us, but I kept my mouth shut until we got in the room. He closed the door and instantly grabbed the large first aid kit from the shelf. I placed Wendy down and was about to ask my question, but the boy started talking.

"My name is Jellal Fernandes," he said, even if we hadn't asked. "I'm a concierge here at The Tower Apartments, which are owned and operated by Doctor Brain-"

"You work for that lunatic? !" Gajeel roared, standing angrily. Jellal shook his head as he took out some of the first aid items and began observing Sting's cut. Sting shied away a little, but Jellal held him firm

"Not quite," he answered. "I work here at the moment, but I don't work for him. Let me guess, you're the reason for all the commotion at the Psychiatric Facility?" I stared dumbly at that question. Jellal didn't say anymore as he applied some disinfectant to Sting's wound. The blonde recoiled, but rode it out before Jellal slapped a bandage on it. Then he looked up at me and smiled. "Don't worry, I won't turn you in. Like you said, the man's a lunatic."

"Then why are you working at his place?" Rogue asked, folding his arms. He was obviously getting his mobility back. Jellal looked at him and frowned a little.

"I'm afraid I can't answer than right now, but I can guide you to some place that has those answers," he told us. He now moved over and examined Wendy, feeling for a pulse and everything. "Hypomagia…A mild case but…"

"Hippo-what now?" I asked. Jellal, like with practically every other question, didn't answer. Instead, he ducked underneath the small desk in the room and pulled out a bottle of…I have no clue what it was. All I do know is that he handed it to me.

"Give this to her and she'll be up in no time. Someone I trust whipped it up for me, so it should work," he answered. I frowned at his orders, and at the weird liquid. Dad had always taught me the line that you should never take things from a stranger, but the bottle I was holding felt strangely peaceful. So, I shrugged, opened Wendy's mouth and poured it down. She didn't regurgitate it and I saw her swallow, so I relaxed.

"Siegrain!" I jolted at the loud and familiar voice of Doctor Brain. Each one of us shrunk just a little bit. Jellal looked worried for a moment but got up and went for the door.

"Stay quiet," he commanded before slipping open the door and exiting. As soon as the door shut, I found myself and Gajeel with our ears pressed against it. "How can I help you today, Doctor Brain?"

"I was wondering if anyone suspicious came to The Tower today?" Doctor Brain asked. I tensed, hoping that Jellal wouldn't betray us.

"No, just the regulars, why?" I exhaled in relief.

"Some children broke out of the psychiatric facility today. I thought they might have stopped by here."

"Sounds scary. I'm surprised you weren't able to catch them."

"I used more energy today than usual and wasn't up for the task," Doctor Brain told him. Jellal said nothing. At the same moment, Wendy groaned softly. Gajeel and I returned to her side as she sat up, the conversation on the other side of the door lost to us.

"Wh-what happened?" she squeaked out. Carla quickly ran to her and gave her a tight hug that our little sister returned.

"Gee hee, you've got some wicked powers, kiddo," Gajeel told her with a pat to the head. Wendy blushed a little at the compliment. She was obviously remembering what she had done. I breathed in relief yet again. I had little time to even ask how she was feeling before the door opened again and Jellal was back inside.

"Oh, good, she's awake," he said with a smile towards Wendy. Wendy, being the kind girl she is, returned said smile.

"I thought you said your name was Jellal, not Siegrain," Sting said, tentatively touching the bandage on his head.

"It is. Siegrain's just an alias I use while I work here," Jellal explained.

"The hell does that mean?" I asked. Now all of us were staring at the blue haired boy who sighed profusely.

"Look, I'm not the right guy to explain it to you, but I know someone who is." Jellal moved back to the desk and clicked onto the computer there. At least, I thought it was a computer since it had been seven years since I'd seen one. Either way, he printed off what looked to be a map and circled a large portion with red. "I can't leave The Tower, otherwise Brain will become too suspicious, but if you head to Old Magnolia, which I circled and look for a symbol outside a pub there, you'll find Fairy Tail. They'll tell you everything."

"What's Fairy Tail?" I asked. I didn't care about Old Magnolia, because I knew it as the older part of town slightly apart from Magnolia proper. There were a lot of pubs there, too, and I had only been there once with my dad.

"A place for answers," he told us as he walked over to a rack and began pulling what looked like the building's uniforms. "I'm sorry I don't have any uniforms in her size, but this should be a reasonable change of clothes for you guys that won't draw suspicion." I took the clothes like I took everything else from him: warily. Still, I changed into them along with the other boys (Wendy and Carla turned away) while Jellal left and found some clothes for Wendy. Fifteen minutes later found all of us at the door out of The Tower.

"Thanks for your help, Jellal," I said. He _had_ helped us out a lot.

"It's fine. Just tell Fairy Tail that Jellal sent you. I'll try to get word to them, but it'll be tricky," he said back. At those words, I held out my hand for him to shake.

"Still, thanks." Then we shook and our group of ten began making our way out of the door.

"I hope we'll meet again, Natsu Dragneel." I whirled around at that statement, but the doors had already slammed shut and he was walking away. How did he know my name?

"Hey, Salamander," Gajeel called. "You're the only one who knows his way to Old Magnolia, so are you coming or what?"

"Don't throw a hissy fit Metal Head!" I yelled back, forgetting about what Jellal had said.

Our subsequent trip to Old Magnolia took on the order of hours. True, Magnolia wasn't this huge sprawling town to get through, but Old Magnolia was far out from the center of New Magnolia where we had found ourselves. First we had to get out of the there, which was harder than I remembered because some of the familiar landmarks were gone. Then, in the suburbs, it was already starting to get dark. The one thing I do remember was hearing the bell from the cathedral, and could smell the trees. It brought back the memory of that day, but for once I looked at it differently; I was free. Anyway, there was a small path out of Magnolia proper that led to Old Magnolia. It was shady enough during the day, but downright dangerous at night, leaving Wendy to cling to both me and Carla like a drowning cat…and Happy clung to me like a scaredy cat.

"Are we almost there?" Sting complained for probably the hundredth time as we entered the town.

"Stop asking, Sting," Rogue chided him. "We'll know when we're there."

"Couldn't we have taken a bus?"

"With what money?" Gajeel asked. It sounded more like he wanted to bite their heads off.

"Will you all stop arguing like little children and look for the sign Jellal mentioned?" Pantherlily chastised angrily from Gajeel's shoulder. "Of course, he didn't even tell us what it looks like…"

"Maybe it looks like a fish!" Happy said, his eyes sparkling exuberantly. I sighed before Wendy stopped, halting me with her. Then she pointed and I followed her finger.

"That's a hobo, Wendy," I said, looking at the ragged man sitting outside a little pub. The letters of said pub were faded, but even in the inky blackness, I could make out the words "Dreyar's Tavern". Nothing remarkable.

"Not that, Natsu," Wendy huffed out. "Look at the sign under the name." I looked again, more to appease her than anything, and saw what she was talking about. Under the faded letters was a small wooden square with a white insignia painted on it. I'm not sure how I could describe it, but since it was practically the only lead we had, I guess I could agree with Wendy that it looked somewhat like a fairy…somewhat…

"Okay, then let's go in," I said. Wendy smiled and clapped her hands.

"What if we're wrong?" Gajeel asked warily. I shrugged and he got the message: there wasn't much of a choice. Knowing that, I stepped forward and pushed the doors open.

Inside was a brightly lit and kind of cozy pub with wooden floors. That particular night must have been a busy one because it was packed to the brim with patrons, each one of them enjoying some kind of drink. I saw people of all ages from adults to college age kids to even teenagers. One of them even looked around Wendy's age. I stepped forward and heard a condescending laugh to my right. Our little group turned and saw a man sitting there with blonde hair and a big scar over his eye wearing an expensive looking fur-trimmed coat and smoking a cigar.

"What's this now? Some kids wandering in off the street?" he said mockingly. "Sorry, but you've got the wrong place. We don't serve to kids and cats."

"Laxus, knock it off!" came a sweet voice from in front of us. The man named Laxus shrugged and took a puff of his cigar. Meanwhile, we turned to the girl who had approached. She had long white hair and quite a voluptuous figure, not to mention she looked vaguely familiar. She turned away from Laxus and looked at us before dropping her tray in shock. "I-I don't believe it…"

"Mira, what's wrong?" said a new voice. A voice I recognized. A voice I was intimately familiar with. A voice that belonged to none other than Lucy Heartfilia, who was approaching now. She saw me and the both of us stood stock still. "Natsu?"

"Natsu!" the other girl cried. My memory finally came back to me and I recognized her as none other than Mirajane Strauss, despite the different look and voice. I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing such an old face. Tears welled up in my eyes. It was like being home. Suddenly, I found myself being smothered by Mira in a hug as her tears dripped onto me. "I can't believe you're actually here. I mean, Lucy told us, but I never really believed…"

"Mira…" I said, hugging her back gingerly. I only realized by the loudness of my voice that everyone in the tavern had gone silent, staring at us. I finally pulled back and looked to my fellow dragon watchers. They simply looked to me for guidance. "Um, so…we're looking for a place called Fairy Tail." Mira smiled brightly at that.

"Then you've found it, my child." I wasn't sure who had said that at first until Mira moved aside to reveal a short old man with a big, bushy mustache. He was also sporting a smile that felt extremely warm and put me at ease. "Jellal told us you'd be coming, and Lucy's told us all about you, too."

"Who the hell are you, old man?" Gajeel asked. He never was one for patience. Neither was I.

"My name is Makarov Dreyar," the old man answered. "I'm the headmaster of Magnolia Academy, and the proprietor of this tavern. I'm also the master of Fairy Tail."

"Master of Fairy Tail?" I squawked out. "What's that even mean? We were told we could come here for answers, not more questions."

"It means, my boy…Natsu, correct?" I nodded my head silently. "It means that I am the head of an alliance, Those of the Light, that is currently waging a war against the forces of darkness, the Balam Alliance. But before I tell you what _that _means, I must ask you a single question."

"What's that?" Wendy asked timidly.

Makarov smiled at us before asking loudly, "Will you, the Dragon Watchers, help us in our war against the Balam Alliance?"

That was the question that changed everything.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: A long chapter but full of essential setup. There's really only a little more to set up before we dive into the meat of the plot. Anyway, there's not too much to say. I hope you enjoyed this lengthy action packed chapter. I've loved all of your reviews so far and I hope you'll grant me some more this time. So please Review and Dare to Be Silly.<strong>


	4. PART 2: MALEVOLENT MELEE: Chapter 4

**This is Part 2 of the story, where everything truly begins. Please, enjoy.**

* * *

><p><span>PART 2<span>

MALEVOLENT MELEE

Chapter 4

What do you do when someone asks you to fight in a war? How do you answer? How do you _react_? Before you think I'm going all philosophical on you here, I'm not. The only reason I'm saying any of this is because when Makarov asked that question, each one of us froze. We wanted answers, but first we needed to answer him. So, again, how do you respond? Well, Gajeel responded fast…in fact, he responded so quickly, I'm almost entirely certain that what he said was whatever came to mind and should've been censored for Wendy's virgin ears. It wasn't, though.

"What…the…fuck? !" he screamed. Carla and I instantly moved to cover Wendy's ears while she looked at Gajeel in alarm. "Listen here, ass clown. We came here for some fucking answers, not a bullshit session of 'fight our war for us'. Nuh-uh, not gonna happen, ya fuckin' loontard."

"And there's Gajeel's rainbow of swearing," Sting lamented with a sigh. Gajeel rounded on him next but found Mira suddenly standing between the two.

"Please, no fighting. This really isn't the time for it," she said fiercely. Now, I've only talked about Mirajane a little bit before, but let me say that as a kid, I never really feared her, even if she could throw down with Erza at the drop of a hat. No, I always knew I could take her. Hmmm…looking back, I think the reason I didn't recognize her was because she was so sweet compared to the devil she was before. Right then, though, I felt the devil come straight through, and even Gajeel stopped to shiver.

"Don't be such a sourpuss, Mira," Laxus chortled out, tossing his cigar to the side. "If the kid wants to fight, let him fight."

"Don't antagonize them, Laxus," she snapped. Laxus shrugged, but that one movement was enough for Gajeel, who whipped around and tried to punch him. What happened next, I couldn't have guessed would happen in a million years. Laxus vanished before the punch even hit; but he hadn't just vanished. He'd disappeared in a bolt of lightning and reappeared on the other side of our group. It was surreal. Here someone else was with powers similar to our own, like it was…like it was…

"Magic…" I breathed out. At the same moment, Makarov sighed loudly.

"Laxus, stop that foolishness," he chided the blonde male.

"Aw, come on, gramps, it was just a bit of fun," Laxus said back, now leaning nonchalantly against a wall. "Don't know why you care so much about these kids and their cats, anyway. Myself and the Thunder Legion are enough to handle things."

"Stop acting so high and mighty, Laxus," called a smooth voice from one of the tables in the tavern. I squinted my eyes to see who had spoken and fixed them on an auburn-haired man that looked unshaven. Next to him was a brunette girl that was playing cards, her gaze occasionally flicking upwards towards us as she took each drink from a bottle. "You know the reason your grandfather wants these people to help, and besides, it's not like you and the others have made any progress yet."

"Tch…so, the walking town destroyer butts his ugly mug in," Laxus snarled out. The older man tightened his fist on the table and I suddenly saw it crumbling to pieces.

"Dad, watch what you're crushing!" the brunette snapped.

"Oh, sorry, baby. Daddy's real sorry." And just like that, the table was repaired. The brunette rolled her eyes, but I stared slack-jawed at the sight of it. Makarov chuckled beneath me.

"Never seen magic before, have you, my boy?" he asked. His question helped draw me away from my sense of awe.

"No, I have…I just didn't realize anyone else could do it," I answered back.

"Of course. Everyone in Fairy Tail can use magic, though I suspect there's something a little different about yours." This comment made me look at my hands. Was that where the fire came from? Was it magic? If so, how had we come by it anyway? Even further than that, how come using it was so instinctual to us? These thoughts might've bothered me, but they certainly didn't bother Frosch.

"Fro thinks so, also!" the green cat exclaimed jubilantly. Oh, the looks they received from that were exactly as Happy thought they'd be: priceless. Makarov's eyebrows flew upward, Laxus jerked against the wall, most of the other occupants of the bar stood up in shock, and Lucy shrieked slightly. I looked at her in mild amusement. For everyone here supposedly knowing magic, I guess a talking cat was still an anomaly.

"Th-that cat talked!" she stammered out. At this, Happy detached himself from me and approached Lucy with a paw in the air.

"Aye! My name's Happy," he greeted her. "It's nice to finally meet you, Lucy!"

"Meet…me?" Lucy looked unsure how to respond and I didn't blame her. I had practically freaked when I first met Happy. While Lucy was wrapping her brain around this, Mira kneeled down to Happy's level and shook his paw herself.

"It's good to meet you, Happy. My name's Mirajane," she said with another sweet smile. "Are these other cats your friends?"

"Yes, we are," Lily answered, dropping from Gajeel's shoulder to the floor. "My name is Pantherlily, head of our independent squad. The others with me are Carla, Lector, and Frosch. I would introduce you to Gajeel and the others, but I have a feeling you already know who they all are."

"Wait…" Sting said, cutting across Lily's introductions. "If you know us already…then…how long have you guys been observing us, exactly?" I wondered the same thing. Makarov sighed at Sting's question.

"I would suppose answering your questions would be best before answering mine. Gildarts, call all the guild masters to the Academy for an emergency meeting," Makarov called out. The auburn-haired man I saw crush the table earlier stood. This was obviously Gildarts. "Lucy, could you call Levy and Yukino as well. We may need their assistance. Mira, are Gray and Erza back in town?"

"Ice Boy and Erza are in Fairy Tail, too?" I blurted out before I could help myself. It was a genuine surprise to me because they were the two people I remembered most from childhood. There was some irony there; it was like all roads led to Fairy tail. Neither Mira nor Makarov heard me, though.

"I'm not sure…I know they were following that lead on Tartaros' base, but…" Mira said with a frown. She then took a few steps away and peered into the crowd at the bar. "Juvia, do you know when Gray will be back?"

"Rain Woman?" Gajeel asked incredulously. I clearly was not the only one who knew people in this Fairy Tail.

"Gray-sama called to say that he and Erza are picking up a late dinner in town. He'll be by Juvia's side soon," a voice called from within the crowd. I couldn't see who was saying it…though, I did have a guess that her name was Juvia.

"Levy said she finished her homework and Yukino finished practice, so they can be downstairs in a few minutes," Lucy suddenly called and I noticed that she had her phone in her hand. Gildarts also passed by her, his black coat flickering as he did so. I watched him go, impressed by his earlier show of magic. Doing so allowed me to catch a brief glimpse of what was under the coat: a metallic arm and great gashes across his chest. This guy was a warrior, and I could tell he had seen some grisly battles.

"Good…good…" Makarov mused aloud, bringing my attention back to him. "Tell Gray and Erza to meet back at the Academy. Myself, Lucy and our guests will use the transporter square to meet them all there."

"All right. Be careful, Master," Mira said. He scoffed and threw his fist into the air, his index finger and thumb at perpendicular angles to one another. I found it a little strange, but couldn't quite ask what it meant as the old man turned back to our group.

"Come with me, and I'll try to answer any and all questions you have," he said. Then he began to walk towards the back of the bar. Wendy was the first to follow, along with Sting and Rogue. Gajeel and I hung back a moment.

"I don't like it," he snarled out. I looked at him to find his eyes narrowed and a nasty scowl on his face.

"They seem okay to me," I said back. His eyes slid over to me and he shrugged.

"Most of them, but I can't stand _that_ guy." I didn't need to look to know he was referring to Laxus. "It's like he's…looking down on us. I've had enough of that the last seven years." But even if he'd had enough, he still made to follow the others. I did too, but I spared one last glance at Laxus, who was staring at us.

I'm not sure what Gajeel saw in Laxus' eyes, but I'm pretty confident we didn't see the same thing. I didn't feel like he was looking down on us. It was more like he was sizing us up. There was a strange curiosity in his eyes and I could see a thought process going on behind them. I didn't know what he was thinking about, though. I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"You're coming, right, Natsu?" That question unmistakably came from Lucy, who was still standing next to me with Happy. I looked at her and saw the obvious nervousness on her face. For a brief second, I wasn't sure how to answer her. It had been quite the surprise to see her here, and she no doubt had many questions about just how I had gotten here. I would guess that we both felt meeting outside of the facility was weird. I did have one question, though.

"Lucy, were you…spying on me?" I asked her. Her lips thinned and I felt that fear that had niggled at me since I saw her confirmed.

"Not really," she answered softly. "Quite honestly, I was fine with us the way we were."

"Hmm…" I said, not really understanding what she meant. I felt a little hurt and betrayed that she had been there to spy and observe me. It was no different than being under the doctors' watch. At least, that's what I felt until I suddenly found her hugging me. This was certainly new.

"But I'm glad you're here, as a person and not some patient," she finished. A million thoughts flashed through my brain, but the most predominant one was: how do you respond when a girl as hot as Lucy suddenly hugs you? Do you hug her back, or just stand there? I decided it was weird to have such a one-sided hug, so I hugged her back. "You know, I always believed you. I hope…you don't doubt that about me."

"Don't worry, I won't," I answered with a chuckle. She just hugged me tighter until Mira's sweet voice interrupted us.

"Lucy, I think it's sweet that you've finally found a boyfriend, but the Master _is_ waiting."

"They're in _looove_!" I rolled my eyes at Happy's needless comment. Obviously, he was trying to rile us up. In Lucy's case, it worked, because she separated from me and grabbed his tail.

"Shut it, cat!" she snapped before stomping off after the others. Whew, that girl has a temper…and don't think that I didn't notice the fact that she didn't deny Happy's accusations. Despite our questions and situation, for some reason that brought a spring to my step as I followed her. She was still clutching Happy's tail as I fell into step beside her. Happy was giggling madly, but I was just surprised at Lucy's ability to adapt.

"So, Lucy, what exactly _is_ Fairy Tail, anyway?" I asked her. My hands slid into the pockets of the uniform I was wearing as I asked. That thing was becoming quite uncomfortable, by the way.

"You heard the Master," she said with a smile, ignoring Happy's continued mutterings. "We're the lead guild in the war against the Balam Alliance." Right, 'cause that totally explained everything.

"Okay, what's a guild? For that matter, what's the Bread Alliance?" Lucy chuckled at my question, finally letting Happy go. We had finally reached the doors that everyone else had gone through.

"A guild is a group of wizards. You know, magic users," she explained. She also pushed the door open and Happy flew on through. Lucy quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing. I guess that once you've seen a cat talk, it's not too surprising if it does anything else. "Fairy Tail is one of those guilds. Hundreds of years ago, there used to be tons of guilds, when magic was commonplace. Of course, magic shifted out of the public venue, so the guilds dwindled and then the Balam Alliance started picking off the rest. The world's down to only a few guilds now and most of them are here at Magnolia, under the supervision of Master Makarov."

"Most?" I asked. We started walking downstairs and caught a glimpse of the others just ahead of us.

"Yeah, there are about six. The only guild I've heard of that's not part of our alliance is…well…Raven Tail, but they're mostly independent." A dark look passed over Lucy's face at the mention of this Raven Tail. I decided to ask her about it later, but knew that I'd probably forget. "Oh, and like I said, it's the _Balam_ Alliance, Natsu."

"Balam, Bread, who cares? Just tell me what it is?"

"Aye!" Happy squeaked above us. Lucy sighed.

"That's for the masters to tell." At last, we had caught up with the forward group, who were standing in a large, almost cavernous room. On the floor, I noticed an intricate design, like some sort of magic circle with the very same insignia that was outside of the tavern. I didn't ask, but I think that insignia was some sort of emblem from Fairy Tail. Lucy and I joined with the others and Wendy smiled up nervously at the both of us as we did so. Then I saw the old man, Makarov, make a weird symbol with two of his fingers.

A light shone around us and I felt Wendy grip my shirt in worry. Without even thinking, I pulled her closer to my side. There was, however, a distinct feeling that passed through me. I was almost certain from Wendy's reaction that she was just a little scared of magic after what had happened today. I would be, too. The light encompassed us and a new sensation covered my entire body. It was almost like I was disintegrating, yet my body still retained its solid form. I looked to Lucy, but she looked completely unconcerned about the whole thing. Of course, she'd probably been through this ordeal any number of times before. For me, the sensation was entirely new, so I closed my eyes a little until the sensations vanished and I felt solid again.

We were in a totally different place. At first glance it looked like an auditorium of some sort, until I saw a chalkboard on the wall. Plastered to the wall were posters that said things like "Science! It's Everywhere!" and "Semester Abroad in Crocus!" There was also a rather humorous poster for a play called "Frederick and Yanderica". This was very plainly a school classroom…and at the front, by the chalkboard, were three older individuals. From the way they carried themselves, I got the distinct feeling that these guys were all teachers. They also smelled like chalk dust.

"Allow me to introduce you to our guild masters," Makarov said as he climbed onto the stage. I say "climbed", but it was more like "struggled" with his tiny body. When he did reach the top, he stopped and, I swear, his eyes popped out so far it was hilarious. "Gildarts, what's going on here?"

"Sorry, Master," said Gildarts, who I now noticed casually leaning against a wall. I also noticed that his hands were nowhere near it. "You know Orlando; doesn't want to waste his time. Mermaid Heel's master is off on some kind of…something. And Ohba doesn't want to ruin her beauty sleep, so she sent Jura."

"My apologies, Makarov-dono," said one of the three men on the stage. At least, I think they were all men. The one in the middle was dressed kind of like a woman. Anyway, the one that had spoken was bald and had this totally badass beard trailing from his chin.

"It's fine, Jura." Makarov cleared his throat as he turned to us. "Like I was saying, these are our guild…representatives, I guess. Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale, Bob of Blue Pegasus, and Goldmine of Quattro Cerberus."

"Oh, they look adorable, don't they?" said the one named Bob. I got the creeps from that cross dresser.

"So, who are they, again, Makarov?" asked Goldmine.

"The Dragon Watchers we've been told about," Makarov said with a grin. "Why don't you all introduce yourselves?" None of us really wanted to, so I took a simple step forward and decided to take the bullet.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel!" I called. "This is my family, Gajeel Redfox, Wendy Marvell, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney. Now, we've answered your questions, do you mind answering ours?"

"Fair enough," Makarov chuckled out again. Now, maybe I imagined it, but I could have sworn that I saw a strange gleam in his eye when I mentioned we were family. "As I said, we are a group of six guilds in an alliance, each one with its own specific purpose. For example, Blue Pegasus excels in intelligence gathering while Lamia Scale is responsible for cleaning up and the procurement of supplies."

"That what are you responsible for, old man? And why?" Gajeel asked testily.

"As master of Fairy Tail, I am responsible for overseeing all operations. I guess you could say I have my hands in a little bit of everything, isn't that right, Lucy?" Makarov then sported an extremely creepy smile that Lucy glared at.

"Don't be such a perv, Master," she answered in a huff. "Just tell them about the Balam Alliance."

"Hmmm, right…Well, simply put, the Balam Alliance is an alliance of the three greatest dark guilds to have ever existed: the Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros. These are guilds wholly committed to drowning the world in darkness. We've been battling them for hundreds of years, all to preserve our way of life."

"They've been around for hundreds of years but you still haven't been able to beat them?" Sting asked, almost incredulously.

"Ah, it's not as easy as you'd think. The Balam Alliance is the oldest alliance in history, spanning four hundred years. The guilds have changed hands numerous times, but the only thing that has been certain is that their goals are a mystery other than the eradication of all light in wizardry." Something about the sour way he had said that irked me. Like he knew a little more about this clash between light and dark magic than he wanted to tell us.

"So, what the fuck do you need us for, old man?" Gajeel asked. Wendy lightly admonished him with a slap, but still held on to her hand afterwards.

"Our scouts have finally come back with some leads that the facility you were in was actually owned and operated by the leader of the Oración Seis," Goldmine answered with a smile that told me he considered this a small triumph.

"Brain?" I shouted out.

"Is that what Zero is calling himself these days?" Jura asked. He wasn't smiling.

"I don't understand," Rogue commented, holding tightly onto Frosch. "You say you _just_ came back with some leads. Haven't you been fighting this war for four hundred years?"

"Not quite," Makarov admitted sheepishly. "In truth, the guilds four hundred years ago were all divided and the Balam Alliance picked them off one by one. It was only one hundred years ago that we began fighting the war in earnest."

"What happened one hundred years ago?" Wendy asked quietly.

"Mavis Vermillion formed Fairy Tail. Of course, by this point, wizards were practically in hiding from both the public eye and the destruction caused by the Balam Alliance. In response, Mavis Vermillion formed Fairy Tail to draw all the remaining guilds into an alliance. Along with my father and a few others she also formed Magnolia Academy to help cement this alliance. Ever since then, we've made a concentrated effort to take them down."

"You still haven't yet, though," Gajeel snickered out. It may have been rude for him to treat the old man that way, but at the same time, I could see his point. They obviously hadn't done a stellar job if they allowed one of those dark guilds to imprison us for a huge chunk of our lives. Makarov hardly seemed fazed by this, however.

"True, but we believe that with the information we've gathered, along with your hopeful participation, we may now have the means to bring this war to a decisive end."

"How?" Sting said, obviously without thinking. "I mean, how could our participation help you? We have no real experience on how to use magic and we were all held captive by your enemies. It doesn't make sense." Makarov's eyes slid over to the creepy Bob, who stepped forward with a serious face that scared even me.

"My fabulous Trimens have received intel that a member of the Balam Alliance has infiltrated Magnolia Academy," he said to us. Yeah, still didn't make sense. Gajeel obviously thought the same because he scoffed.

"So what? It's just a school."

"It's not just a school!" Gildarts yelled from where he was. I looked at him and saw such a serious look on his face that I almost wondered if this was the same man that I had seen earlier. "Magnolia Academy is the last bastion of magic in Fiore…no, the entire world. If the Balam Alliance has infiltrated it, it would only be a matter of time before they'd find crushing weaknesses in the alliance and exploit them. That would mean the end of everything. Fairy Tail, gone. Wizards, gone."

"So what?" Gajeel repeated. "That's got nothin' to do with us!"

"Humanity, gone." Gildarts' final words chilled me and Metal Head as well. For some reason, the simple sentence that the auburn haired man spoke was the first that actually made me realize what a threat the Balam Alliance was. Not only to these people, but to us as well. I'd be lying if I said it didn't frighten me.

"Gildarts, that's enough," Makarov chided softly. I barely heard it, the chill continuing to run through my veins. "My Dragon Watchers, I don't mean to pressure you, but this is far too urgent a matter for me to let it drop. You were practically in the care of the Oración Seis, one corner of the Balam Alliance. You're also on the run from them. We can give you shelter, but we ask only one thing in return: join us at Magnolia Academy. Your presence there may cause the Balam Alliance to finally take action."

"It may reveal our infiltrator," Jura confirmed. That was probably the most simplistic and easiest explanation to help me understand. "When it does, we can corner them and obtain the vital information needed to win this war."

"Yes," Makarov confirmed. Then he held a hand out towards me, as though I were the leader. As if only my words could make the decision for all of us. Honestly, I hesitated, and who wouldn't? That hesitation was enough for the door behind us to bang wide open.

"Hey, Gramps, Juvia called to say that we were supposed to meet you here," called a male voice. Something about it annoyed me, so I turned around to see who was talking. It took only five seconds for me to notice those droopy eyes and that stupid black hair. He stopped short and looked at me. Then, like we were only seven, he ran to me and slugged me right in the face. "Natsu, you idiot! You owe me for that damn tater tot!"

"Oh, shut up, Gray! That was total payback for taking my curly fry!" In case you're wondering, yes, I was talking to Gray Fullbuster. In case you're wondering about the other thing, yes, I did steal his tater tot seven years ago before I had been locked up. Of course, just seeing his stupid face again made me want to punch him. Then he took his shirt off. "Damn it, Stripper! There's little kids here!"

"Huh?" Gray spat out. He finally noticed that others were with me, in particular Wendy, who was blushing like crazy. Then he noticed his shirt was gone. "When the hell did that happen?"

"Still a loser, huh, Gray?" I taunted. That was obviously enough for him to lunge at me. He was stopped just before hitting me by an unpleasantly familiar sight.

"Seven years later and you're still up to your old stupidity," came the cool, and admittedly mature voice of Erza Scarlet. I gulped. Gray did much the same. Poor Gajeel did not.

"Who's this dumb broad?" he asked. I barely even saw the eye twitch and Erza was stomping over and beating Gajeel on the head. The scariest part is that it was _Gajeel_ who pulled away and squealed like a girl. I stood next to Gray and watched in fear. He let out a tenuous exhalation of breath.

"How've you been the last seven years?" he suddenly asked while we watched Erza viciously pull on Gajeel's hair. I spared Gray a glance and finally noticed how different he looked. Like me, he had become more muscular and his chest was proof of that. What I noticed more, however, was the scar on his forehead and by his abdomen. He had no doubt seen some action. That pissed me off.

"Well, I was locked in a psychiatric facility and was told I was crazy, so…" I let the comment hang. Gray nodded.

"Yeah, Lucy told us," he responded after a beat.

"You?" I flitted my eyes over to him and he did the same. It was just a brief moment, but I saw something sadder in Gray's eyes than had been there before. Those seven years must have hit everyone hard.

"Fighting a war," he answered solemnly. "Dad died infiltrating Tartaros, and mom soon died from heartbreak."

"Sorry…" I answered. I meant it, too. Gray's dad, Silver, had been a cool guy, and I knew Gray adored him. My heart went out to him. "I can relate. I haven't even heard from my dad since I was locked up."

"Harsh, man…" I nodded and that was as far as our conversation progressed, because Erza turned back to us, holding a limp Gajeel in one hand. She frowned at us.

"Gray, put some pants on, you're scaring the little girl," she scolded. Gray looked at Wendy, who was desperately covering her eyes before giving a squeak at noticing his pants were missing. Same stupid stripper as always. "Natsu, it's good to see you again after so long."

"Yeah, me too…" I had to wheeze out that last word because Erza had dropped Gajeel and crushed my head against her chest. Let me tell you, Erza had grown up, and she probably had boobs just as big as Lucy (not that they've ever made me think of Erza as a woman…since, well…she's scary) but there was one factor she overlooked. She was, for whatever reason, wearing armor and my head was crunched against it.

"Erza, I think you're killing him," Lucy intervened quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to change," Erza admitted. I stumbled away from the scarlet haired woman as her body burst with light before she was standing there in a school uniform. "My apologies, Natsu. Lucy, if you'd strike me for my failure."

"Uh, no thanks." A frown creased my face as I looked at Erza and I quickly decided to speak my mind.

"You guys use magic, too…of course," I breathed out, tossing my hands in the air. As I lowered them, I felt Lucy (I could tell because her hands are so soft) place a hand on my wrist and flash a smile at me.

"Erza uses Requip magic and Gray uses Ice Make magic," Lucy explained. Yup, Gray's total obsession with anything frozen definitely made sense now. Gray soon came by us and threw an arm around both my and Lucy's shoulders.

"And Lucy over here is one of our two Celestial Wizards, though technically Yukino works with Saber Tooth."

"So, you guys all know each other, too?" I asked, honestly not very surprised by this point.

"Sure do," he said with that infuriating grin. "The three of us usually run missions together, but Lucy decided her homework was too important tonight."

"And I had weekend cheer practice. Honestly, Gray, if you did something other than missions with us and running the school concession stand with Max, maybe you'd understand," Lucy shot back, throwing Gray's arm off of her. "Besides, Juvia would kill me if I went on a mission with you."

"Ugh…" Gray spat out, like there was something distasteful in his mouth. I smirked, but chose to tease him later.

"Those two do need to work out their relationship, don't they Lu-chan?" I knew that voice. Quickly, I turned around and saw Levy, beaming at her and the timid Yukino brightly. Gajeel wasn't far behind, since he seemed to recover quickly at the sound of Levy's voice. "Oh, G-Gajeel…y-you're here…"

"Not happy to see me, shrimp?" Gajeel said. Was it me, or was he blushing?

"N-no, I just didn't expect it."

"Makarov-sama, is there a reason you've called us here?" Yukino asked perfunctorily. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Sting and Rogue looking dejected that she hadn't acknowledged them. Well, more Sting than Rogue.

"Yes, of course, but your services are all based on our friends' answers. First, though…Erza, were you able to locate Tartaros' base?"

"Another dead end, Master," Erza answered shamefully.

"I expected as much…well, let us put that matter aside," Makarov said surprisingly cheerily. Then he looked me and the others in the eyes. "Now that you're caught up, will you join us? We can give you a warm bed, food, clothes, and all the family you need. Please understand that I am not forcing you to stay. You're free to leave at anytime. I am simply offering you a road to the future, and asking you to walk it with us."

I wasn't sure how to respond, so I glanced around at each of my family members, silently wondering about each of their thoughts. Wendy was gazing at me with shining eyes, so I knew her answer. Even Sting and Rogue were smiling, and that was a hell of a rare occurrence for Rogue. Then I looked to Gajeel, who frowned before shrugging. He was okay with it…probably because of Levy. I looked to Makarov to give our answer.

"All right. Let us at 'em!" With those words, a huge exhale of relief filled the room. I felt it in my body, too, the great burden of decision making gone from me. I also felt utter exhaustion.

"Well, now that that's settled, I suppose we'll have to set you up in the dorms."

"We have two of the suite size in the Sequen Wing available," Gildarts said. Makarov nodded, but I could see he was already ready to move on to other things.

"Hmm…we'll have to wait a week before we officially admit them. Then there's the testing," Makarov murmured out. I know that I wasn't the only one of us to stiffen at the word "testing". The old man seemed to catch on to this. "Oh, we simply want to see what classes you'll be placed in. Of course, there's also the training."

"Training?" Gajeel spat out. No surprises there. "What the hell do we need training for?"

"If you're gonna fight in this war," Gildarts responded, "you're gonna need to improve your magic skills."

"We'll give each of you an instructor to work with," Makarov explained. "I should think a week will be sufficient enough to develop your magic power to a decent level."

"Assuming Lame Brain doesn't mess it up." I rounded on Gray for that comment.

"Oh, yeah, Frosty? I'll completely surpass you in that week!"

"Fat chance, Fire Turd!" We were about to lock foreheads when Erza appeared and pushed us away.

"Stop your childish bickering," she snapped. "Just for that, Gray, you'll be escorting them to their rooms." I took satisfaction in the fact that Gray looked put out, thought I didn't care to spend any more time with him.

"Yes, you know the ones. I suppose Wendy could room with Lucy until we find a more suitable room," Makarov mused with a stroke of his chin.

"Chelia may be a good option," Jura suggested. I didn't like it. Mostly, I didn't like the idea of us all being separated so quickly. Wendy didn't either.

"Actually, if it's okay, I'd like to room with Natsu and Gajeel," she said firmly. It was the bravest I ever heard her.

"Aw, c'mon Wendy, are we chopped liver or something?" Sting asked with another wince. She answered him with an apologetic smile as Makarov rendered his decision.

"Yes, all right. I understand, child," he said with a wide grin. "Before you five depart for your rooms, I want to inform you of a few quick things here at Magnolia Academy. First, as a member of the guild alliance and runaways, you'll need new names for school. Don't worry about coming up with them, though; they'll be on your schedules. Second, ordinarily, we have each student do a round of service. Considering your situation, I'll waive it.

"Lastly, and most importantly: Magnolia Academy does not just accept wizards. In fact, seventy five percent of our students are non-magic users. To that point, they don't even know magic exists. Therefore, you are not allowed to use magic anywhere in this school. Not class, the halls, the cafeterias, or even the dorms. Is that clear?"

The look in his eyes was so frightening that only Happy was able to answer with a high-pitched "Aye!" for all of us. The old man seemed satisfied because he nodded, tossed something to Gray, and said "That's all," before beginning to walk away. I let out a breath of exhaustion.

"All right, we'll get you guys off your feet. Follow me," Gray said despondently, some keys jingling in his hands. Normally, I'd choose to argue with him, but right then, I was too tired to retaliate. So, with that being said, I led our little Dragon Watcher pack forward, our feet scraping along the ground. Just before we left the room, I cast one look back. Makarov, Gildarts and the other guild leaders were conversing in hushed tones, but what was more noticeable to me was Lucy. She was looking at me with a wide smile and a wave. That made me feel a little better.

The ten of us followed Gray through the darkened halls of the school, the air around us completely silent. It didn't take long for us to reach the exit and once more step into the cool and crisp air. That was when I caught sight of the three large buildings near the expanse of the school. Judging by the fact that Ice Boy was leading us to one of them, I assumed these were the dorms. We actually entered what looked to be the biggest building on the campus and climbed the stairs to the third floor. Soon after, we had stopped outside a pair of rooms that Gray unlocked. He then tossed one of the keys to me and the other to Rogue.

"If you guys need anything, I'm right down the hall," he said, but he left before we could ask any questions. Good thing, too. I was bushed.

Happy flew ahead of me and into the room, but I was pretty quick to follow. It was a pretty decent room with a small kitchen and a nice size bedroom and bathroom (although the bedroom only had two beds at the moment). There was even a couch! All I really remember from my impression that night, though, was that Magnolia Academy was one swanky place. I quickly flopped onto the couch with an fatigued sigh. Wendy joined me by my feet, but Gajeel leaned against the wall with his arms folded.

"You sure we can trust them, Salamander?" he asked. I popped an eye open and shrugged.

"Don't really care," I said, because I didn't. "Lucy trusts them, though, so I guess that's good enough for me. And I know Ice Brain and Erza are okay people, so…"

"Hmph," Gajeel grunted out, but said nothing. He just stayed leaning against the wall and closed his eyes. I followed his suggestion and within moments I had fallen into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Being prepped for Magnolia Academy in that week was a strange experience. The first morning we were woken up at the crack of dawn by a sharp knock on the door. Gajeel jumped, since he had fallen asleep leaning next to it. I had to disentangle myself from Wendy, whose arms were clutched tightly around me. I wasn't that surprised to find Gray at our door. So, leaving our cats to their own devices, we followed him once again to that classroom (after getting food and a change of clothes of course). The grounds were a little livelier than the night prior, but we ignored it all in favor of meeting up with Gildarts. That was when that week truly began.<p>

First we had to be tested. Thankfully, this wasn't like all those tests the people at the facility would run. Nope, this was just pencil and paper and a bunch of multiple choice questions. Now, I know I never talked about it, and my ramblings might suggest that we didn't, but the people at the facility did, in fact, educate us. We knew most of the things that kids our age knew and Wendy probably knew even more. Of course, we hadn't really been tested on it, so it was a completely different experience from the last seven years. I'm pretty sure I aced it, though. I don't know how to describe it, but when that paper was in front of me, it was like answers started flowing into my brain. At least for most of it. Either way, it was the first test in years that I walked away from with complete confidence. That sounds a lot stranger than it is.

Of course, we also had to learn all about the separate guilds, which Makarov indicated we would have to choose between. Apparently, they all had their own distinct functions. Like how Sabertooth was a guild that focused only on getting the job done as quickly as possible. Sting and Rogue were interested in this, but I think it was only because of Yukino. Then there was Lamia Scale, who did the job neatly and left no trace behind while also procuring supplies. Blue Pegasus (led by that incredibly creepy Bob guy) was the intelligence guild, always gathering info on the Balam Alliance. Mermaid Heel, comprised solely of women, were typically infiltrators and Quattro Cerberus…well, they were the distraction for everyone else. Wild! Now, what about Fairy Tail? They did everything since they practically oversaw it all. This was, naturally, the guild that the three of us wanted to join. Didn't make the history lesson any more interesting or Lucy any less impatient.

"Natsu! Stop acting like a child. You need to know these things if you're going to be part of the alliance!" she snapped, hitting me over the head with a book. I was yawning, so I didn't care.

"Lucy!" I whined back, trying very hard to ignore the fact that she looked a little sexy when she was angry. "If I'm part of this alliance, I don't care who I'm fighting. I'd rather just punch them all out but good!"

"I hear that, Salamander!" Gajeel agreed and we fist bumped. Lucy and Levy gave up after that.

The best part of the week by far was the training. Each one of us got paired with a separate instructor for this. Well, just about each of us. Sting and Rogue joined up with some members of Sabertooth and Gajeel was paired up with that Juvia chick. Meanwhile, me and Wendy got Gildarts who I had been itching to see use more magic since he destroyed that table. I didn't get much of a chance.

"All right, Natsu," he said, standing in the middle of the room where we would begin our training, "come at me with every bit of magic you have. Don't hold back." There wasn't too much option there.

"Cool! I'm all fired up!" I yelled as I dashed at him. In the back, I could hear Happy cheering me on and fire surrounded my feet. I kicked at Gildarts, and in that moment, it felt like I was that dragon I had seen, his talons flying at Gildarts. That feeling burned inside me and I screamed, "Fire Dragon's Talons!"

It felt really strong, but when the fire diminished, I saw Gildarts had grabbed my foot before throwing me into the ground. It cracked and softened the blow, letting me land without injury. I sprung back up, my whole body wreathed in flame. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" The attack slammed into Gildarts but he just brushed me aside.

"That's enough. You certainly have the ferocity of a dragon," he chuckled out. I agreed. It was strange, but everything I had just pulled out felt instinctual. It was almost like I didn't need any training. Like I'd done it before. My mind was actually racing with all the possible attacks I could use.

"Have you seen a dragon?" I asked. Gildarts started stroking his chin in thought and I took that moment to attack, my Fire Dragon's Iron Fist aimed at his face. He blocked it as he answered.

"Nah, though you do hear stories."

"So, then…" I attacked again, but was blocked, "…how did you get those wounds?" The question must have stunned him, because he quickly and powerfully slammed me to the ground.

"Tartaros…" he grumbled, clutching his left arm. "There was a scuffle a few months back in this valley. They were trying to get their hands on some super weapon and I got deployed. Of course, Tartaros had sent their best, including their namesake. It was a pretty nasty fight. I crushed his skull in, but that doesn't stop those Tartaros freaks. He caught me by surprise and ripped my arm off before gutting me. I barely got out alive."

His words had stunned me. Maybe it was the visceral image planted in my head. Or maybe it was the fact that I finally realized this was a _war_ they were fighting. It was a sobering fact. One that Gildarts laughed off. I could only stare at him in surprise. "What?"

"It's nothing," he said. "I learned a lot that day. It's the reason we've been looking for Tartaros' base, but we haven't had any luck. But enough of this depressing talk. Wendy, it's your turn."

"I-I'd rather not…" Wendy said quietly. I looked at her and saw there were some tears in her eyes.

"Now, child, you can't be afraid just because Natsu got thrashed," Carla said comfortingly. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Carla.

"It's not that…I-I'm just scared of magic!" she admitted tremulously. It made sense.

"She had a pretty traumatic experience with her first use yesterday," I told Gildarts. He nodded in understanding.

"I've got just the thing. Give me a moment," he said before running off. Moments later, he returned with a boy who looked to be around Wendy's age, whose hands were shoved in his pockets. "Wendy, this is Romeo. He'll be in your grade at the Academy."

"H-hi…" Wendy stuttered through the tears. This made Romeo uncomfortable.

"Hey…" he responded dully. "Why am I here, Gildarts?"

"Wendy is scared of her magic. I figured that since you went through a similar thing, you might be able to help her." The request surprised Romeo because he stepped back, but after giving a glance to Wendy, he nodded. Gildarts patted him on the back and the two of us returned to training.

After that, Wendy and I both improved dramatically. Wendy quickly gained control over her wind-based powers and surpassed Romeo. She eventually joined in my training sessions with Gildarts where the depths of her powers were revealed: she could both enhance and heal. It was pretty awesome, though I felt like I'd seen it before. Anyway, the two of us made a damn good tag team. Romeo would often stay and watch, occasionally joining in. Actually, during our last training session on Sunday, all three of us went up against Gildarts. With just that week behind us, we had grown incredibly quickly and I felt more than confident that the three of us could defeat him.

I was wrong, of course, but that fight did teach me something awesome about my magic. Wendy started by enhancing the two of us. Not that it did any good, since Gildarts swatted the both of us aside like flies. This also made Romeo's attack go off angle, aiming straight for my face. I opened my mouth, prepared to do…something, and the fire that Romeo used as magic sailed straight down my gullet. I thought it would burn and hurt like hell. It didn't. Actually, it was tasty and filled me with energy enough to spring up and let loose with a great stream of flame. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

That was the day I discovered I could eat fire.

After my attack did nothing and Gildarts soundly defeated us, each of us sat for a final meal together. That was when Gildarts smacked his head. "That's right, I was supposed to give some things to you and the others. First, I have your schedules." With that, he handed us some sheets of papers. I got four of them while Wendy had one.

"Natsu Dragion, Gajeel Dragion, Sting Cheney, and Ryos Cheney…real inventive," I commented upon seeing the fake names.

"Give us a break, we only had a week," Gildarts responded with a frown.

"Hey, looks like we have some classes together, Wendy!" Romeo pointed out. That comment elated me. At least, Wendy would have a friend in her classes. It was a good thing.

"And Natsu, I have something for you as well." Before I could ask what it was, I felt a lump of fabric toss itself on to my lap. When I looked down, I saw a white scarf, its texture like dragon scales. Something about it smelled familiar and warm. "Truth be told, I knew your father some ten years ago. He gave me that scarf and said it would be yours when you were old enough. I only just remembered."

"From Igneel?" I asked in surprise. Gildarts smiled at me. Now I knew why it smelled so familiar; it smelled like home. I clutched it tightly to my chest before wrapping it around my neck. It may not have been Igneel, but at that moment, it was good enough. And I was never going to let that moment go.

Our dinner completed, me and Wendy returned to our dorm room for a good night's rest. Our first day at Magnolia Academy had arrived.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Exposition hell! That's what this chapter was. A lot of information and hints coming your way that was really hard to write. It's very difficult to dole out information without making it super boring. Either way, the setup is now complete! Next chapter is on to bigger and better things. As I mentioned above, we are on to Part 2. No, each part does not have the same number of chapters (in fact, Part 2 is longer than Part 1) so I'm keeping you on your toes. In other news, the first part of the GMGs has been dubbed! They chose some pretty great voices though Arcadios sounds so different, ha ha… (it works). The Chariot scene was amazing, too. Well, that's all I have. So please, leave me a Review and until next time, Dare to Be Silly.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**If only you saw my notes for this chapter…too many, way too many. That doesn't even cover the notes in general (pages upon pages). So can you see all the foreshadowing? Try it in Chapter 5, playing now at a computer near you!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

"You've got your bag? Your books? Your _schedule_?"

"Natsu, I'm fine. Besides, Romeo's going to help me out. He even said he's going to introduce me to someone." I frowned at Wendy. Sure, she seemed more put together than I was, but I still couldn't help but worry. For Gajeel, it was strangely doubly so.

"Better not be a boy," he said from the kitchen, one of Mira's leftover meals sticking out of his mouth.

"No, he said her name was Chelia. She's two grades above me, but Romeo says she's really nice."

"Yeah, okay…" I said in disbelief. I may have trusted people that I knew like Lucy and Gray, but anyone else new still unnerved me. "Just remember that Metal Head and I are gonna pick you up from your homeroom after you get out of class."

"I know," Wendy said with a smile. It was the brightest I'd seen her smile in a long time. A knock came at the door and before I could move a muscle, Wendy had skipped over to it and opened it to reveal Romeo, who had waved at both of us.

"You ready to go?" he asked. Beyond him, I could see the halls of the academy teeming with students leaving their dorms. Like us, they were all wearing uniforms.

"Sure am, if my big brothers let me," she said with a glare at Gajeel. He scoffed and turned back to his chicken leg.

"Yeah, go ahead," I dismissed. "Just make sure you take care of Wendy, okay, Romeo? I don't want anything to happen to her…and no boys better hit on her either."

"On my honor as a Fairy Tail member, I'll keep her safe." Wendy giggled at Romeo's chivalry but I stepped forward to pat him on the head. Then the two young ones left. I sighed. She was growing up so fast, going off with boys. I did trust Romeo, though. I scratched the back of my head and stepped forward to grab my bag.

"Let's go, Gajeel…and stop trying to eat the damn faucet!" I yelled as I left the room. Yeah, I wasn't the only one who could eat something strange. Gajeel, in particular, had developed a strange taste for iron.

"Yo, Natsu-san! Ready for school?" Sting greeted, coming up to me. I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I sure am. I used to hate it, but now I'm looking forward to it."

"You guys got anything planned for after school?" I asked as myself, Sting, and a lurking Rogue walked towards the stairs.

"Hell yeah! Orga's letting us watch his practice and then we're meeting up with Minerva afterwards for training." Orga and Minerva: two names I'd heard from the duo for the last week. They seemed okay, though according to Lucy, the one called Minerva had a bit of a mean streak. "What about you, Natsu-san?"

"Gotta pick up Wendy after meeting up with Lucy. Said she wanted me to come to her cheerleading practice…"

"Mind if I join you for that?" Gray asked, suddenly sidling up next to me. "Hot girls in short skirts…hell, that's half the reason I work the concession stand in the first place."

"Really?" Sting asked skeptically. At the same time I noticed an orange haired boy in step with Gray. He was wearing tinted sunglasses, and his fingers were firing rapidly on his phone. "Seems like you'd be more eye candy for them since your shirt's half off."

"Damn it…" Gray cursed as he buttoned up his shirt again. "Oh, right. Guys, this is Loke, my roommate. He also happens to be one of Lucy's Celestial Spirits."

"If you're a spirit, why're you going to school here?" I asked. I mean, come on, didn't that sound a little strange.

"I like being around people," the boy named Loke answered. "Plus, I want to be ready to battle at Lucy's side whenever she needs me." Okay, that made sense. Loke offered a smile before going back to his phone. I hadn't even noticed Rogue reading over his shoulder.

"So, by 'people', you really mean women?" he asked stoically. Loke shrugged, like the terms were just semantics. We had finally reached the stairs and our group of six (Gajeel finally caught up with us) descended. By this point, it was pretty obvious that the dorms we were in were co-ed. Granted, Wendy was the only female on our floor, but just below us, I saw Lucy and Levy emerging onto the stairs. Lucy happened to look up and caught sight of us, waving jubilantly. Loke suddenly zipped to her side.

"Good morning, beautiful," he crooned. I briefly saw Lucy roll her eyes.

"Take it somewhere else, Loke" she said to him. He didn't look even the slightest put out. "Go talk to Aries!"

"I was planning to anyway," he said with a dramatic push-up of his glasses. Then, he left so fast that he practically disappeared. Judging from Lucy's reaction, she was used to this. We had kept moving this entire time too, so by now we were leaving the building.

The morning air was cool and deluged with new scents as numerous students swirled around the grounds. Most were heading for the huge building that us Dragon Watchers had first arrived in, which was the building with all the classrooms and other school stuff. Of course, our little pack didn't go unnoticed as a few girls waved at Lucy and she smiled back at them all. Her smile dipped when a different girl with black hair approached us.

"Heartfilia, we are still holding practice today, right?" the girl asked with her hands on her hips. "Homecoming is in just two weeks after all, and I'd hate for us to be embarrassed on the field."

"Of course, Minerva," Lucy sighed out. I took a better look at this girl now that I knew she was Minerva. She seemed okay, other than the slight sneer to her lips, but I didn't like the way she was talking to Lucy. "I have practices booked everyday except for Sundays."

"Just wanted to make sure you were doing your job as captain right," the cold girl commented prior to whipping around and walking away, her skirt whipping with her.

"Hey, Minerva, wait up!" Sting called out as he and Rogue dashed after the girl. Sting briefly whipped around and gave a parting, "See you later, Natsu-san!" before he was gone. And then there were five, though not for long.

"Come on, Gajeel," Levy said as we finally crossed the threshold of the school building. "We have Calculus first, so let's get going."

"This sucks…" Gajeel grumbled. "I didn't sign up for going to school." Didn't stop him from following her like a lovesick puppy, though. Lucy actually laughed about it.

"So, Natsu, what class do you have first?" she asked after the giggles subsided. I took out my schedule to answer her.

"Uh…Honors Physics," I responded.

"What? !" Gray said in shock. "How's an idiot like you get into Honors Physics?"

"'Cause I am smart, Frosty, so you can suck it!" I taunted back. Gray just got in my face for it.

"Oh, yeah? You wanna go, Fire Crotch, 'cause I can throw down right here!" I would have gotten into the fight if it weren't for the timely intervention of Erza.

"You two aren't fighting on Natsu's first day, are you?" she threatened as she approached, wearing the same school uniform as Lucy. It wasn't nearly as flattering on her. I would never say that to her face for the same reason that Gray and I would never fight around her. That's the sole reason we threw our arms around each other.

"Of course not! Right, best buddy?" Gray said in the fakest, simpering tone imaginable. It fooled Erza, though.

"Aye!" I said in response.

"Wait…why are you sounding like Happy?" Lucy asked. I didn't know myself, but it was nice to know that Lucy had come to really accept Happy, even if they occasionally flung insults at one another. "By the way, where is that blue furball?"

"Probably off exploring," I dismissed casually. "He and Pantherlily like to lead the group on random expeditions." Lucy nodded, obviously figuring that the logic made sense. Clearing that hurdle in her mind, she turned to Erza with a sly smile.

"So, Erza, are you going to tell us all about this mystery man? I'm sure Natsu would love to know," Lucy cooed. All of a sudden, Erza flushed deep red. The sight was strangely endearing, but I was too hung up on the fact that Erza had a boyfriend. She must have been the friend that Lucy had told me about.

"Erza has a boyfriend?" I asked before I could stop myself. "I always thought that she was…" I caught sight of Gray shaking his head in warning. He knew what I was going to say and I instantly changed tact. "…She was waiting until after high school, because that's the kind of person she is."

"Yes…well…that is to say…" Erza stammered out, looking the most vulnerable I'd seen her in ever. "Juvia, how are you this fine Monday morning?"

"Juvia is fine, especially since she can see Gray-sama!" I looked to see who the newcomer was to our little group, recognizing the name. Juvia was a girl of average height with curled locks of blue hair. Sticking out of her backpack was an umbrella, though it looked like it hadn't been used in a while. She was also staring at Gray adoringly, which led to some questions.

I leaned over to Lucy and whispered, "Is she Gray's girlfriend or something?"  
>"She wishes," Lucy said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not absolutely sure, because sometimes Gray is really sweet to her, but other times he's equally cold."<p>

"Love-rival, are you conspiring against Juvia's relationship with Gray-sama?" Juvia suddenly snapped, a scary look in her eyes.

"Not really. No." Juvia appeared to finally take notice of me and actually offered a small smile.

"You must be Natsu. Gaji's told Juvia all about you." Gaji? Oh man, I wasn't going to let Gajeel forget that one for weeks. But Juvia wasn't done talking yet. "Lucy talks about you a lot, too, so Juvia is glad to meet you. She did say you were quite-"

"Juvia, did you read that short story for Lit? I think Miss Heilas said she'd be testing us on it today," Lucy interjected. I looked at her oddly for a moment at her sudden reaction, and she refused to look at me. I noticed the blush on her cheeks but shrugged it off. None of that really mattered to me.

"Yes, Juvia found it quite interesting, but-"

"Oh, we don't have time to stand around for this," Erza proclaimed, re-inserting herself into the conversation. "Come Gray, Juvia, let us make for psychology."

"But I wasn't done-" Gray began, only to be silenced by that infamous Erza glare. "Or psychology…psychology is fine, too. See you at lunch, Lucy, Pyro."

"Whatever, Popsicle," I retorted, but the two of us fist-bumped before the others disappeared. Okay, it was more like Erza dragged Gray and Juvia off. No matter what it was, it left Lucy and I alone. Lucy seemed just a little nervous, but got her head back on straight with a smile.

"Okay, then, we have Physics together, so let's go," Lucy said and the awkwardness vanished. She took a few steps and then stopped. "Since there're so many unknown people at Magnolia Academy, we have a sign to indicate that you're a part of Fairy Tail. That'll serve as a sign of identity and to let the others know that you'll always be looking out for them."

"Sounds cool. What is it?" In response, Lucy raised her right hand and gave the same sign I'd seen Makarov give off: the index finger and thumb out at a perpendicular angle. I nodded to show I understood and Lucy began winding her ways through the halls toward Physics. As we pranced along, I noticed some colorful posters on the wall, so I stopped to read. "Fantasia Homecoming Parade and Dance, a night of magical joy…"

"Supposedly," Lucy said, having finally realized that I wasn't right behind her. "I've never been, but since I'm a senior and cheer captain, I kind of have to this year."

"You don't want to?" I asked her, a little surprised. She struck me as the kind of girl who loved this stuff.

"Too much of a hassle to find a date," she replied with a little shrug. "I don't want to go alone, but everyone on the team is either a meathead or a persistent annoyance." I frowned. Lucy didn't sound too happy about guys harassing her, but I could see in her eyes that she really wanted to go.

"Well, I guess it could be kind of fun," I commented, hardly realizing it myself. Lucy looked at me in surprise, but I moved onto our original trajectory. "Come on, Lucy, let's get to Physics!"

"Wait, Natsu, what did you mean by that?" I ignored the question. She didn't let up with it the whole time we finished walking to the classroom. Lucy led me in and I took a look around. It didn't look like anyone had assigned seats, so I just decided to follow Lucy over to a pair of white-haired individuals. Both of them turned to wave at her and caught sight of me. The girl was over to me faster than the guy, hugging me tightly.

"It's actually true! You're really here!"

"Man, is it good to see you again or what?" I looked at the two faces before me as the girl withdrew and they both reminded me of Mira, which instantly told me who they were.

"Lisanna! Elfman! I didn't know you guys were here," I exclaimed, giving a fist bump to Elfman. You've probably figured it out by now, but this was Elfman and Lisanna, Mira's younger siblings. The funniest part was that the two of them were born so close together that they ended up in the same classes. People thought they were twins, but those closest to them knew otherwise. I had known them in my childhood. I was practically bros with Elfman and Lisanna and I would go on random adventures when Gray wasn't around. Lucy once informed me that Lisanna had a crush on me, but it was pretty obvious by this point (and the expensive tiki doll necklace she was wearing) that she had moved on to someone else.

"Lucy had told us you were coming, but it's so nice to see you in person," Lisanna said. She was still the same cheery girl I had known her as. Elfman was the same too, just a little more manly.

"Glad you made it here like a real man!" Elfman proclaimed, scoring some dirty looks from some classmates.

"Tone down the real man stuff and take a seat, Strauss," called a familiar, booming voice from the head of the classroom. I looked to the front and noticed the familiar blonde head of Laxus sitting there. My stomach dropped just a little. "Don't know how Ever puts up with you."

"Of course, _Mr. Dreyar_," Elfman spat as he and Lisanna finally walked away from us towards their seats. To me, my worst fear (not really) was confirmed: Laxus was our teacher. I felt Lucy tug on my sleeve and I began following her over to the Strauss siblings. Before I took a seat, I saw Elfman gingerly help Lisanna into a seat while she winced painfully. I took it as another sign of this escalating war. Then, I sat down next to Lucy, leaning back and staring forward at Laxus, who was glaring just as earnestly back at me.

"It's really nice to see you reunite with old friends," Lucy said happily. I took my eyes away from my staring contest to see Lucy smile. She was taking her books out, her dorm key momentarily falling to the floor. I caught the room number in my peripheral, but was too focused on her smiling back.

"All right, guys, time for class. So, shut your traps!" Laxus yelled over the bell ringing overhead. I looked back at him now, but he wasn't looking at me anymore. "All right, we've got lab today, so get into pairs. You'll be running simulations for electrical current. Take down the amps and the voltage of different objects. Then you'll have a two page paper about it due by Thursday, so get your asses in gear."

I was really lucky that Lucy was all too ready to be my partner. We took our position at a lab table next to the Strauss siblings and Lucy went to work starting everything up. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do at the time, so I took to looking at Laxus again. He briefly caught my eye, giving me a sneer as he moved to one of the lab tables.

"I didn't know he was a teacher here," I commented to Lucy quietly.

"Who? Laxus?" she asked as she double checked that everything was set up correctly. "He is the master's grandson, so it's understandable. He got his job right out of college and he managed to secure jobs for the Thunder Legion as well."

"Thunder Legion?" I asked, remembering that Laxus had mentioned them before.

"College age students who follow Laxus' every whim," Lucy said as she picked up a large block of metal. I took the amp meter and hooked it up, reading the voltage that she took down. "Fried's a veritable genius who's already a student teacher here while Bickslow and Evergreen work part-time in the cafeteria between classes."

"Makes sense…but why do they follow him around?" I asked, picking up our next item. "I mean, ever since we showed up, he's been kind of a jerk to us."

"That's because you don't belong here," boomed the voice of the aforementioned man from behind me. I whirled around to see him staring down at me. "You just came in here, and even though everyone else is already treating you like part of the family, I know the truth."

"And what's that?" I asked confrontationally. Laxus smirked and scoffed.

"You're different. You don't belong here, and everyone else will know that soon enough."

"Laxus!" Lucy chided. Laxus just waved her off and moved to the next lab table. I didn't realize it until Lucy started calling my name, but my hands were balled into fists. He had all but threatened my family. Well, if Laxus was going to be watching us, then I'd be keep my own eye on him and his "Thunder Legion". We'd see who didn't belong here, then.

The rest of Physics passed by uneventfully and before long we had our full lab report and were ready to head off to the next class when the bell rang. Lucy separated from me since she was heading to Calculus and both myself and Lisanna were heading to Literature. She did make a promise to see me at lunch, though. So it was that Lisanna and I began the walk to Physics. As we did, I observed her. She seemed perfectly fine, but occasionally her steps would be off.

"So, who's the necklace from?" I asked, hoping to make small talk.

"My boyfriend," Lisanna answered cheerily, fingering the necklace. "He's a year older, but he can be sweet…if a little strange. He has an obsession with tiki dolls, so now we can match."

"Wow, a lot can change in seven years, huh?" I lamented. Lisanna kept smiling, though. "Mira was so different I hardly recognized her." Now, Lisanna's smile dropped.

"The war…takes a heavy toll on everyone…" she said, her eyes downcast. "Mira, Elf and I were on a mission and Elf…he…it wasn't his fault, but my legs…Chelia tried to heal them, but there's still some scarring. Mira almost thought I died that day, so that's why she changed."

"I'm sorry," I said. Now I felt bad for even bringing it up. This war was certainly awful sounding. It hurt all of my old friends, and it dragged us in too. Hearing all of their stories just made me all the more determined to give a beat down to this Balam Alliance.

"Cheer up, Natsu, I'm fine! Now come on, Miss Heilas hates it when people are late." She grabbed my arm and began to drag me off to the rapidly approaching classroom. I'll admit that I was a little surprised to see Gajeel in there with Levy by his side.

"Hey there, 'brother', how was Physics with Bunny Girl?" he asked, his feet propped onto the desk.

"Hey, yourself. Physics was fine except for Lightning Rod," I answered. "What about Calculus?"

"The whole thing sucked. I mean, I understood it, but I didn't want to be there," he said back. I plopped into the seat next to him and emulated him. Shortly after, the bell rang and I looked to the front of class where not one, but two people were standing: a woman with black hair and attire that I wouldn't attribute to a teacher (here meaning she looked _really_ attractive) and a green haired man dressed to the nines. I guessed the woman was Miss Heilas. I had no idea who the guy was.

"Well, Mr. Justine, I believe today's class starts the story of your teaching career, no?" the woman said. "So, I'll leave it to you." Then she sat down at her desk and popped a book open. I looked ahead in bamboozlement.

"Who's Greenylocks?" Gajeel snarked. Levy slapped his shoulder. Damn, that girl must have hands of iron.

"That's Fried Justine," she hissed quietly. Fried…I recognized that name. Lucy had told me it just an hour ago. "He's our student teacher and a member of Fairy Tail."

Now I remembered, and I looked back to the green haired student teacher who was giving instructions to us to get into groups of four. Like Laxus, his supposed leader, Fried's eyes constantly flicked over to me and Gajeel. Gajeel almost gave him the middle finger once, but Levy put him to task. I just stared back. Unlike Laxus, there was something different in Fried's eyes. It was less disdain and more of an interest. Even his voice was gentler when he came to speak with us.

"You must be the Dragion brothers," he said, greeting us perfunctorily. "I hope you're enjoying your time at Magnolia Academy. It is my wish that we continue to have a working relationship with one another."

"Yeah, sure, sounds great," Gajeel dismissed. I was simply taken aback.

"You don't hate us?" I asked, confused by his reaction.

"Why would I? You've yet to prove yourself, but I find that no reason to show disdain," he answered before he stepped away to work with another group. He did throw a few more words at us, though. "We'll see what you prove to us in the coming days."

That was probably the most eventful thing for most of the day. Comparatively, the other classes were just a bunch of meeting teachers. I met Macao, Romeo's father, in Calculus and had a kickass time with Gildarts in psychology (we were learning about fear). Apparently, the master of Lamia Scale was the History teacher, and it made sense because she looked ancient enough. Hell, I even met the janitor, a bizarre guy named Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki who I strangely saw eye to eye with. The gym teacher, Alzack, was really cool, and so was his wife, Bisca. We played dodgeball and since I was against Gray's team, I was all fired up. I mean, not every teacher was a part of the Alliance, since both Miss Heilas and the teacher presiding over Sting and I in Study Hall weren't. Me and Sting just played a secretive game of hangman, though, because we were both bored out of our minds.

Lunch was a little more notable. I joined up with Lucy and the others as they introduced me to just about everyone in the Alliance that I hadn't met. It started with Bickslow and Evergreen working the cafeteria (for the record, Makarov gave us all money and new clothes). Neither of them were very happy with me, and Bickslow lewdly commented on Lucy's "jiggly jugs". Then there was Bacchus, the school's star quarterback. Kagura was the captain of the tennis team that Yukino was on (and also Erza's adopted little sister), Jet ran track; Hibiki, Ren and Eve were members of the student council and there were a bunch of others that they introduced to me, but I didn't care to remember. And since I don't want to bore you with the details of my school day that even I didn't care about, let's just say I was happy when the day was over and Lucy and I left gym to go straight across the hall to the other gym.

Lucy had already changed into her cheerleader uniform while I slammed my bag down and took my place in the bleachers to watch them practice. Now, I know that most guys my age would get some kind of nosebleed or something at the girls tumbling around in short skirts, but I actually didn't care. Sure, some of them were hot (like Lucy), but there's only so much you can watch before you get bored. And I was more concerned with waiting for Wendy's classes to end. Luckily, Gray had the perfect timing to save me from my boredom by tossing something in my lap that turned out to be a phone.

"Gramps wants all of you to have a phone so we can always reach you," he said. He wasn't looking at me, though. His eyes were drawn to the cheerleaders. I snorted as I turned the phone over and tucked it away.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I suddenly asked. Gray looked away with a scowl.

"Juvia?" I nodded and he sat back with a sigh. "We're not exclusive or anything, though with the way she acts, you'd think we were."

"Then what's the deal, man?" Gray didn't answer right away, but when he did, his voice was low and full of pain.

"Juvia was there for me at a time when I was at my lowest," he said. "When dad died, I was willing to do anything to kill the bastard in Tartaros that had done it. Everyone tried to stop me, but it didn't work. Even my cousin, Ultear, died because of me. If Juvia hadn't been there…if I hadn't dragged her away from their clutches…I wouldn't be me."

"So, it's not just some high school crush?"

"Definitely not," he stressed. "I don't know what it is, but it's not that."

"Hmmm…" I couldn't say any more in the face of what he'd told me. He just chuckled and slapped me on the back.

"Hey, I'm glad you're back, though, Flame for Brains."

"Yeah, yeah, Ice Dick." The two of us laughed at our good-natured insults, everything feeling like old times again. We were interrupted by a young voice, though.

"Excuse me, but you're Natsu Dragion, Wendy's big brother, right?" I looked up to see the bearer of the question and saw a teenaged girl with pink hair. She looked to be a little older than Wendy and her hair was grown out to her shoulders. She wore a smile and looked a little apprehensive, considering she kept patting her cheerleading skirt down.

"Yeah, and who are you?" I asked her.

"My name's Meredy. I'm a year above Wendy, but we have some classes together," she answered gaily. "Anyway, we got to talking and she said she wanted to join the Underclassmen Homecoming Committee. We help to plan the dance and things under faculty supervision."

"And you're telling me this, why?" I know it sounds like I'm being cranky, but I honestly had no idea why she was even talking to me. Meredy shuffled a little, continuing to pull on her skirt.

"Well, the teacher needs a guardian's permission for this, and since you're the closest thing she has to a guardian, she was hoping you could give permission directly." Her smile didn't falter and her nervousness remained, but there was an earnestness in her request that made me give in with a sigh.

"All right, where can I find this teacher?" I asked, standing up and hooking my bag around me.

"South wing, class 223. The teacher's Mr. Gryder," she said before happily skipping back to her fellow class of cheerleaders. I shook my head and took out my new phone as I started down the bleachers.

"This thing has everyone's numbers in it?" I asked Gray. I didn't really need his answer to find that it did. Right away, I sent Gajeel a text, asking him to meet me and figuring he already had a phone. I was just outside the South Wing when he caught up with me, a wild and crazy look in his eyes. "What's with you?"

"Saved me from Levy's book club," he grunted out. "She's great and all, but her book club? Eugh! Especially with those two dweebs that follow her everywhere. So, what's going on with Wendy?"

"Something about some Homecoming Committee," I said back as we arrived outside room 223.

"Sounds boring," Gajeel commented. I ignored said comment and pushed the door open. Wendy lit up on seeing us and I immediately noticed Romeo in the room along with an older man that I presumed to be Mr. Gryder.

"You must be Wendy's guardians," he greeted, readily shaking our hands. I returned it warily, something about this black-haired and scarred man striking me as familiar. "I'm Mest Gryder, head of the Underclassmen Homecoming Committee and Wendy's homeroom teacher."

"Okay, what's this about you wanting to be on a committee, kiddo?" Gajeel asked snappily. Wendy barely reacted.

"It's just decorating and stuff. It sounded like fun," she defended. I was willing to let her do it, but something about this Gryder guy was off. Only Romeo's presence there assuaged my fear.

"Let's just let her do it," I said. Gajeel's response was an embattled look to me, but seeing Wendy's smiling face, he finally relented.

"Excellent! The committee meets everyday after school for two hours until Homecoming, and we'll have an after party here during the dance," Mest answered. Oh, he sounded so familiar, but I couldn't place it. "It's definitely a great opportunity for underclassmen to help since they can't attend the dance."

"Thanks, guys!" Wendy exclaimed, giving us both embarrassing hugs around the middle. Gajeel affectionately ruffled her hair.

"All right, kiddo, let's get you doing your homework," he said. I almost laughed, because Gajeel was _totally_ going to do _his_ homework. Wendy didn't mind, though, because she bounced out of the classroom. Gajeel went after her. She looked so happy that it made my heart swell. Romeo running after her, too, made my smile stretch wide.

"You have a wonderful little sister," said Mr. Gryder, the only one left in the room.

"Yeah…" I breathed, until I turned and saw his still familiar face. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so," he answered, but I wasn't entirely convinced. "I think I'd recognize your hair anywhere."

"All right," I conceded, though I wasn't very satisfied. Still, I left the room to catch up to my family. They were waiting at the exit from the South Wing with Romeo, who was obviously trying to convince Gajeel of something. It became clearer as I got closer.

"A bar's no place for Wendy. She's underage! So are you, come to think of it, Mini-Salamander," Gajeel snapped.

"They serve more than just alcohol, and besides, Cana drinks most of it, anyway," Romeo argued back.

"Come on, Gajeel!" Wendy pleaded. She had the full shining eyes effect, which meant that Gajeel was a goner. I wasn't going to get into it. "We're a part of Fairy Tail now, so let's mingle with them." I could see Gajeel struggling with it before he saw me. His eyes were asking me for support, but I shook my head.

"Ugh…all right! Let's go!" Just like that, the four of us were leaving the campus with bags in hand and making our way over to Dreyar's Tavern. We weren't the only ones with the idea. The entire bar was hopping and Gray pulled me into a chat with all the members around our age. Lucy also stopped by and we started on our Physics report. Even other members of the Alliance were there, including the girl, Chelia, that Wendy had mentioned. Sting and Rogue joined in, too, with members from Sabertooth. It was bustling with excitement and was more lively than any place we'd seen in the last seven years. The only damper on it was the members of the Thunder Legion sitting and talking quietly in a corner table.

But other than that…well, that evening we spent at Fairy Tail felt like home.

* * *

><p>Two weeks (less, in actuality) were left before Homecoming. It was a two weeks that passed by with almost no noticeable incident. The Academy became incredibly busy and all of us did as well. Sting and Rogue were spending most of their time hanging with Saber Tooth, so we barely saw them other than the mornings and at the tavern. They did mention their intent to go to Homecoming, though, in order to experience it. Neither Gajeel nor I had made plans to go, even though I knew Levy was waiting for him to ask. Wendy, however, was busy with planning the dance and was extremely secretive around us about it. I hardly cared. She couldn't go to the dance, so I didn't have to worry about boys. Besides, I was too busy with doing homework and just getting used to being at school again.<p>

Well, at least, I didn't care until about two days before the game, parade, and dance, when things started to take a rather dramatic turn. It started with Wendy screaming at three in the morning while she tossed and turned in her bed. I heard it first and ran to her, barely managing to disentangle her from her tightly wrapped sheets when Gajeel barged in. Carla hovered overhead worriedly.

"Wendy, calm down!" I cried, gripping her shoulders. She looked at me with her wide brown eyes and her entire frame shaking. I didn't know what I could do to stop it, so I hugged her tightly to my chest and felt her hot tears staining my shirt while she clenched around me. A knock came at our dorm door, and Gajeel went to answer. "Wendy, it was just a nightmare. It's okay now. You're here. I'm here. We're safe."

"It felt so real…" she cried out. The door closed in the living room and Gajeel came back in.

"What happened, Wendy?" Carla asked quietly. This question made Wendy grip me tighter.

"I was back there…in that horrible place," she whimpered out. Both Gajeel and I stiffened at her words. _That place_. The facility. "They were after me, and I called for you, but you wouldn't answer. Then the building fell around me and it was like I was in an ancient ruin on a hill, the word Zonia etched on its side. Then, there was a darkness, and a light shining in it before I heard a growl. I…I saw _it_…"

"It?" Gajeel asked. Tears fell thickly from Wendy as she resumed shaking.

"A dragon," she said, "but not like ours. It was black and horrifying, and I think it was going to kill me!" She was almost hyperventilating, so I held her close again while Gajeel put a hand on her head.

"It's okay, Wendy…it was just a nightmare," I told her comfortingly.

"We won't allow anything to hurt you, kiddo, real or nightmare," Gajeel stressed. Wendy kept crying, but after a few minutes, her little body was so exhausted, she fell straight back to sleep holding on to me. When her breathing had regulated, Gajeel turned to look at me with concern. "Black dragon?"

"Who knows?" I said, but my mind was disturbed. Gajeel left, but I remained with Wendy, falling asleep as I thought of her words. A black dragon…and a haunted peak. I closed my eyes, trying to picture it, but all I saw was a blurred image of a boy that haunted me even as I woke up. That wasn't much of a fun experience, either: waking up. Waking Wendy up and seeing her off was less pleasant because it almost made me late for Physics with an ever-reticent Laxus. I didn't even have a chance to greet Lucy, Lisanna, or Elfman. Personally, I think this depressed Lucy even more than me, partially because she didn't have me to talk to as Homecoming loomed ever closer.

This offness lasted most of the day to the point that most of my teachers the first half of the day asked me if I was okay. Even Fried, who I had suspected to care very little for us. Gildarts also made me stay behind a moment to ask me if I was all right. Of course, I told him I was fine and the only thing that came out of it was him canceling practice for the day. Oh yeah…I didn't mention that we had also been training during those weeks, but it's not like it matters much. What did matter was that he made me late for lunch. That was the reason that lunch time found me pelting headlong through the hallways. I would have barreled straight through to the cafeteria, too, if I hadn't heard voices. Familiar voices. Actually, it sounded distinctly like Fried and Bickslow, which made me curious. Bickslow should have been working at this time. I crept closer to hear their words.

"…set for Homecoming?" came the sound of Fried's voice.

"You know it is. All we got left is your stuff and we're set," Bickslow answered back. My brow furrowed and I resisted the urge to jump out and confront them. "You really think this'll work?"

"If Laxus has faith in it, then I do as well," Fried snapped back at him. "We're sure that they'll all be there?"

"No, but then we just expand the containment field."

"I'd rather keep it restricted," Fried paused here and I tried holding my breath so as to not be heard. "All right, then, none of the Thunder Legion can be seen together until Homecoming. We wouldn't want anyone to form any suspicions." Too late for that, Mr. Justine. The two parted ways and I kept tight against the wall until Fried was long gone. Once he was, I made a full sprint for the cafeteria.

Something was going to go down at Homecoming, and Laxus and his Thunder Legion were a big part of it. Normally, I wouldn't care about any of that, but Sting and Rogue would both be there, meaning that they would be in danger of this "containment field". Of course, I could've just told the two of them to be careful, but after the grief Laxus had given us, I kind of wanted a piece of the action. That meant I would have to attend Homecoming, and I knew just the way. More to the point, she was standing in plain sight with her arms folded as I burst into the cafeteria.

"Come on, Lulu Pumpkin, you know you want to go with me!" I heard someone call to her. It was someone from right next to her, who was evidently on the other side of her vicious glare.

"No, Dan, _you_ want to go with _me_," Lucy protested. This "Dan" person looked at her with the most pathetic puppy dog put I'd ever seen. Lucy wasn't fooled either.

"But…but you don't have a date to the Homecoming dance either, do you?" he said.

"How would you know? Are you stalking me?"

"No, but none of the guys you hang around are exactly lovey-dovey like I am," Dan commented. I rolled my eyes. Only crazy people would act that way in a relationship…well, crazy people and Juvia. "I mean, sure, they've got the whole rugged thing going on, but they're not classically handsome like I am. Plus, I'm the school's running back."

"Hey, you're not going to Homecoming with Lucy!" I called as I reached her side and flung an arm around her. "I am, right?"

"Uh…yeah, sure," Lucy stuttered out, her face unbelievably flushed. Dan just leaned in to look at me in scrutiny.

"Well, all right, Lulu Pumpkin, I'll just ask Coco." He left. Yes, that _was_ ridiculously easy.

"Natsu, what the hell did you mean by all that?" Lucy snapped once the chestnut haired boy was out of earshot.

"I was asking you to Homecoming," I stated like it was the simplest thing in the world. Lucy spluttered indignantly, trying to come up with a response, her mouth gaping like a fish's. Then she stood straight and composed herself.

"I'll be wearing a pink dress, dance starts at seven, I'll get tickets and you should probably get some nice clothes." She also left seconds later, presumably to buy the tickets. Obviously, she had planned this somewhat. Didn't matter; at least, I was in.

Sure, I wasn't happy that Erza had somehow found out and practically kidnapped me and Gajeel that after noon to buy suits (I got a pink shirt to compliment Lucy, and Levy had apparently gotten sick of waiting), but if it meant that I'd be able to see what the Thunder Legion would be up to at Homecoming, it was worth it. Although, Erza was like an army commander when it came to preparing us until Saturday morning. By this point, Wendy had recovered from her nightmare and happily left with Romeo and Meredy for the end of their UHC, as they called it. Gajeel and I headed for both the parade and subsequent game against the Southern Wolf Academy, where our team won easily, giving our school a chance to cheer. I couldn't care less, but I was mostly there to support Lucy. Following that, I was able to easily change before seven rolled around. I also had a new and brilliant plan pop into my head.

"Your mission is simple," I informed the five cats in front of me. Happy and Frosch were dozing but Pantherlily was staring at me in focus. "I need you guys to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, especially from Laxus and the Thunder Legion."

"Very well, the Exceed Squad will see this mission done," Pantherlily asserted.

"Exceed Squad?"

"Because we plan to exceed all expectations," Lily said. Then he gave me a salute and managed to get all four of the others to follow him. I breathed easier, checked myself in the mirror and made my way through the mingling students in order to get to Lucy's room (yes, I knew where it was, but that's a different story).

She was waiting outside it with a purse slung over shoulder. She was wearing the pink dress she had told me about and it accented her curves and, admittedly, her bust. Her hair was also done up nicely with a flower accenting it, but what really hit me was when she turned, saw me, and smiled at me. It lit up her entire face and made me smile back and just how beautiful it made her look. I joined her at her side and held my arm out, which she took. Oddly enough, there was no need for us to say anything, and we hadn't spoken once by the time we entered the dance.

The gymnasium where the dance was taking place was filled with blue and white streamers, accenting a bubble theme that looked quite nice. Wendy and her group and done a good job. Lucy was greeting multiple people as we strode through. I noticed Gajeel at one of the snack tables with Levy and Sting and Rogue were oddly dancing on the dance floor. I also caught sight of Gray and Juvia, as well as Gildarts' daughter, Cana, hanging out with the school quarterback, looking drunk. What surprised me most was when Erza entered, and on her arm was…

"Jellal? !" Lucy and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Natsu, it's good to see you here. Sorry I haven't had the chance to meet with you. Different classes on top of missions," Jellal chortled out. My brain was short-circuiting, and so was Lucy's, but hers was for the reason that Jellal was apparently Erza's mystery man. I couldn't take much more, so I excused myself and offered to get drinks. It had been quite the surprise, though I should have expected as much. I laughed as I poured myself and Lucy some drinks. My life was way too strange.

I was about to head back when I smelled something in the air, like electricity, but the only electronic thing was the clock that read 7:30. I sniffed again, and then I sensed it, jumping out of the way just in time for a huge lightning bolt to strike where I had been standing. In its midst…was Laxus. He was sporting a feral grin and I had a bad feeling fill my stomach.

He stared right at me and smiled, saying "Hey there, Natsu, Dragon Watchers, hope you're ready to have some fun."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Ooh, this was hard, because a lot of information was, again, flung at you. Now we embark on action, though. Yes, in case you haven't noticed, this part is in some way a truncated and altered version of the Fighting Festival arc, but not exactly (considering there are tons of characters who <strong>_**weren't**_** in that arc). I have some great stuff planned. I hope you'll all stick around. It'll probably come next week, so sorry for the delay on this one. Most importantly of all, though, Review and Dare to Be Silly.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The new Fairy tail chapter made me cry manly tears from what happened. In other news, Sting and Rogue are totally screwed up. Maybe if their dragons hadn't screwed their minds they wouldn't have been total asshats at the beginning. Anyway, Chapter 6 time!**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 6<span>

"What was that?"

"A lightning bolt?"

"Magic? No…that's impossible, right?"

This was not good. All around me, students were panicking over Laxus' display of magic power. I realized that if they panicked, this whole situation, whatever it was, would get a whole lot more difficult. A warm presence attached itself to my side and I noticed that Lucy had joined me. For the most part, I was looking at Laxus, though, scrutinizing his every move. He looked different now. Sure, he still seemed like an asshole, but now he was a supremely confident asshole. Lucy's hand gripped my forearm and I stared Lightning Rod down. The air around him crackled with electricity and many students were giving him a wide berth.

"Laxus, you idiot! What do you think you're doing?" I heard Makarov yell. Both Lucy and I turned to see our diminutive headmaster approaching his grandson. Trailing behind him in a fancy dress was the school nurse. I think her name was Porlyusica.

"Having a little fun, gramps," Laxus chortled out. "You won't make a move, so I'm making a move."

"You fool!" Porlyusica chided, my eyes slowly sliding over to watch her. "This is neither the time nor place for this nonsense."

"Can it, granny!" Porlyusica affixed him with a truly menacing glare, but the blonde refused to back down. "You think these Watchers are gonna do you any good? They've been here two weeks and have been nothing but a waste of time."

"You're a waste of time!" Sting snapped at him, joining me by my side. "There's no reason to ruin Homecoming."

Laxus ignored him, instead looking at me with that loathsome smirk. "Come on, Natsu, you've gotta admit you haven't made any progress. So, I'm trying a new strategy. Maybe if I put you out in the wild, they'll finally make a move."

"Stop it, Laxus!" Lucy screeched from next to my ear. "Natsu and the others belong here. Just accept it!"

"Tch, of course you'd want to think your boyfriend belongs here, but I'm proving otherwise," Laxus bellowed, his arms stretched out to his side. Suddenly, Laxus' threat from two weeks ago seemed much more palpable. My body clenched as the whispers swirled around us from the student body. The tide of panic was rising; I could smell it in the air. That also had to be the moment where one of them chose to speak up.

"Mr. Dreyar…" squeaked a timid boy with glasses that I vaguely remembered from my classes. "Wh-what's going on, sir? Was that-"

"Stop interrupting," Laxus said nonchalantly. As he said it, his finger flicked in the boy's direction and a bolt of lightning went sailing at the boy. He was unable to move, completely rooted to the spot. I took a step forward, hoping to do…something, but it turned out that I didn't need to. It was like a blur, but my eyes were still able to track the movement of Gajeel, who leapt in front of the kid and took the shot. He grimaced as the lightning raced up his iron arm and his shirt sleeve burned off.

"His arm is metal!"

"Was it always that way?"

"Magic!" Yeah, clearly Gajeel's act had confirmed it for the guy. Finally the pain passed from Gajeel's face and he glared at Laxus. The opposing blonde just smirked at him.

"Pretty rotten move to try and hurt someone who's not even involved," he wheezed out, still recovering from the blow. My fists were shaking at the air of uncaring around the man and Lucy tightened her grip.

"This is bad," she whispered, low enough that only I heard her, and maybe Sting. "The more people that stay here, the closer we are to having a riot on our hands."

"Then let's just beat the crap out of Laxus," I said, ready to set my arms ablaze. Lucy held tighter, insistently, while she gave me a thoroughly exasperated look. That prevented me from igniting myself; I didn't want to light Lucy on fire…although, it would have been pretty hilarious.

"Don't worry, Natsu," Jellal said. He had now appeared next to me with a positively fierce look on his face. "We may have to deal with some fallout of this come tomorrow, but for now I can contain the situation. Sleep!" With two fingers raised into the air, a ton of white spores flew out before disappearing. Laxus watched on, but I noticed as, miraculously, most of the student body began to collapse in heaps upon the floor. It would have been funny if it wasn't so horrifying. Laxus didn't go down. Actually, most of the people I knew as magic users were still up and standing.

"I'll assume you knew that crap wouldn't work on me, right 'Mystogan'," Laxus shot back cockily.

"I simply didn't want any more collateral damage," Jellal spat. It was strange. He was almost totally unlike the man I had met in the hotel or earlier that evening. I'm almost certain there was some bad blood between them, or he just wanted to show off for Erza. "If you want a fight, I'm more than happy to give you one, Laxus."

"Of course I'm here for a fight, Jellal, but we've all got to play by the rules," Laxus said. He disappeared in a whirl of lightning and reappeared at the music mixer which was still blasting away on some catchy pop tune. "We're playing a game here, and every game has rules."

"Laxus, cut it out now!" Makarov yelled, clutching at his side. He looked like he was in pain and Porlyusica was helping him. I snapped my look to Laxus, and though there was an air of sadness behind those eyes, he still ignored his grandfather. Prick…

"Butt out of this, gramps!" he shot back. "So, here's the rules, everybody. It's a simple game because it's essentially every one in the Alliance…against the Dragon Watchers."

"We're not playing your game, Laxus," yelled a voice that sounded a lot like Gray's cousin, Lyon.

"Of course you are, Lyon, because no one's leaving this building until the game's over." Laxus crossed his legs and scratched his finger over the surface of the DJ station. "Fried put up some enchantments this evening, preventing anyone over the age of eleven from leaving the building."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Erza demanded, herself joining Jellal.

"To prove a point, that these self-called 'Dragon Watchers' don't belong here," Laxus stated simply. My whole body was shaking and Lucy had already stepped back, likely fearing that I would burst into flames. That was a very real possibility at the moment. "Here's how it is: none of you are free to leave until either the Dragon Watchers go down, or me and the Thunder Legion do. Your choice in which you fight."

"Really?" I asked, drawing a number of eyes to me. "Then you won't mind if I beat you first!" I ran at Laxus, my whole body wreathed in flames. I lunged at him and brought my hand slamming down. Laxus disappeared and I was barely able to stop myself from breaking the music player. A flash of light showed me that good ol' Lightning Rod had reappeared by the door.

"Come on, Natsu. I said we have to play by the rules," he taunted. I leapt away from the area and started towards him. "You take my Thunder Legion down and I'll be happy to fight you. But if you guys go down, you leave Fairy Tail and the Alliance forever."

"I'd rather take you down now, Laxus!" I screamed, dashing at him again. He flashed behind the sole exit from the gym, but I didn't stop running…at least, until I slammed into an invisible wall. Laxus raised an eyebrow before laughing and vanishing. I tried pushing forward but found the stupid wall was still in my way.

"Don't worry, Master," Gildarts said as he came near me. "I'll sort Laxus out." I stepped aside to let Gildarts pass, though I confess to feeling a little disappointed that he'd clean everything up. Or, I thought he would until he, too, slammed against the invisible wall. Well, I was glad I wasn't the only one. "Damn, since when was there a wall here?"

"Fear not, Gildarts," said a silky and melodious voice. No doubt it belonged to Ichiya. "I, Ichiya, will spread the parfum of defeat to Laxus and his cohorts. Meeen!" He ran at the entrance, and like myself and Gildarts, slammed into the wall. What the hell was going on? It was making my head hurt. Just as I asked this question, there came a burst of purple light and words appeared before all of us.

No one employed by Magnolia Academy or over 80 may pass.

Thunder Legion Remaining: 4

Dragon Watchers Remaining: 5

Alliance Members Remaining: 60

My head was swimming with the deluge of information, but what scared me was the number of Dragon Watchers. It was listed as five, and that meant Wendy was included…and she was in the school, too. I had to get out of there right away. No way was I going to let Laxus hurt my baby sister! Now I just had to figure out why I couldn't get through. I knew I couldn't be employed by the Academy and I sure as hell wasn't over eighty. So, why couldn't I get through?

Mutterings surrounded us and my hearing could pick up on some small aspects of what they were saying. They weren't very kind to us at all. In fact, they were downright treacherous considering a lot of them were about taking us out. I turned and tried to pass through the wall again, but still found I couldn't. So, what do you do when you can't do something? Punch it, of course. That was exactly what I did.

"Hey, he's a Dragon Watcher, right?" Lyon said coldly, both figuratively and literally as ice formed in his hands. "So, if we take him and the others out, then we're free to leave."

"We can't be rash in these kinds of decisions," Hibiki said calmly, taking a surprising break from making out with his girlfriend, Jenny, despite all that was going down. Well, points to Hibiki.

"Nevertheless, we must proceed," called the cool voice of Kagura. Oh, this situation was getting worse, and got much worse when Kagura pulled a sword out of her dress. The hell? ! And why couldn't I get out?

"Guys, calm down," said the soothing voice of Bisca Connell. "This is no time for fighting. The Dragon Watchers aren't the instigators of this whole thing, and beating them isn't the only means of getting out of here."

"The alternative is taking on the Thunder Legion," Kagura pointed out, "and while any one of us is skilled, can we truly say we'd be a match for Laxus without the teachers fighting?" Yeah, well I could beat him…maybe…My eyes flicked to Kagura as she stalked closer. "The alternative of defeating them is much easier."

"Enough of this rhetoric," boomed a commanding voice. It wasn't hard to find the owner: a hulking man with a white beard. From what Sting and Rogue had told me, this was Jiemma Orlando, master of Sabertooth. He wasn't a nice guy, either. "The Mermaid trash is right: kill the Dragon Watchers!"

"Kill?" I squawked before I could help myself.

"You heard the man," I heard Gajeel growl. Somehow, he was right next to me with Sting and Rogue almost right behind him. The discontent in the crowd of wizards grew. "Let's get out of here!"

"Just hold on a sec, Meta-" Gajeel slammed into the wall, too, and I released a groan.

"What the fuck? ! Why can't I get through?" Rogue walked up to the wall next and attempted to walk through, but also found his progress impeded.

"Come on, guys, this gag is getting old," Sting said, a hint of worry to his voice.

"It's not a gag!" Gajeel and I protested simultaneously. I followed it up with, "We seriously can't get through."

"What now, then? These guys are out for blood." Well, it wasn't like I had any ideas, and my brothers were just coming up short. Thankfully, women are admittedly wiser, and Levy had come with Gajeel _and_ with an answer.

"It's an enchantment," she explained as she reached the wall. She didn't get stopped as she waved her hand through it. "Fried likely set it up. I have no idea why you guys can't pass through, but I think I can write in some kind of loophole to get you out. Can't do anything for the teachers, though."

"Doesn't matter. You're a genius, shrimp!" Gajeel said with a grin. Levy smiled back at him and turned her attention to the wall.

"Just buy me some time," she commanded. There was no need to tell me that twice, since I turned and faced the practically foaming mob of wizards that wanted to take us out. Gajeel stood at my side, both of us grinning madly. Now, this was going to be fun.

"Seriously, you guys are going to fight?" Rogue asked from next to Gajeel.

"Fight? Nah.," I answered as my fist was set ablaze. "This is a barbecue."

"Natsu-san is so cool!"

"Hey, Salamander, wanna make a competition out of it?" Gajeel asked me.

"Not enough people," I said, though I really wanted to agree to it.

"If this is a competition, I'm joining in!" Sting proclaimed. Rogue just sighed, but I took it as confirmation that he'd be joining us in battle. "What's the prize?"

"First to twenty wins and the losers write a praise song to sing at the bar next weekend," Gajeel said. I didn't care for the prize, but I wasn't going to let a victory slip away from my fingers.

"I'm all fired up!"

"Natsu, don't be an idiot! You don't have to play Laxus' sick game!" Makarov yelled. I turned my head to him and grinned.

"Sorry, gramps," I apologized. Makarov halted in his advance, his eyes clearly tearing up at me calling him gramps. "Fairy Tail's our home, too, now. We're not leavin' for anything!"

"Gee hee," Gajeel laughed out, and I took that as the signal to attack. So did he. "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Flame gushed from my mouth as iron flew from Gajeel's, striking deep into the heart of the now assaulting Alliance members. Numbers of them flew back, though some like Kagura and Lyon were still standing. A small blip was heard behind me and I turned my head ever so slightly.

Alliance Members Remaining: 39

"I got eleven!" I yelled over the distressed cries.

"That eleven was mine!" he argued back as we both punched into an oncoming opponent.

"Stop acting like children. Shadow Dragon's Slash!" Rogue yelled as a few kids from Quattro Cerberus tumbled away from him. Sting leapt over him, his hands shining with a brilliant light.

"White Dragon's Holy Ray!" he screamed and bursts of light flew out.

Alliance Members Remaining: 30

"Now we've got the tricky ones," he said as he landed. I agreed as Kagura and the clearly strongest members of the guilds remained standing. My lips puckered into a frown at the sight. It was going to be next to impossible to beat all of them and still have strength remaining for Laxus and the Thunder Legion. So, I did the best thing I could and glared at our opponents. Kagura took it unflinchingly.

"Glare at me all you'd like. My sword will proceed," she taunted. I slammed my fists together and smirked. I aimed a flaming kick at her, which she dodged. Kagura attacked, forcing me to roll out of the way. Before her next attack could come, I heard a sharp clang and saw Erza blocking the strike.

"Don't waste your energy, Natsu," she chided. "Your magic is impressive, but we need it to beat Laxus and the Thunder Legion."

"Aw, come on, why you gotta take the fun away, Erza?"

"Natsu!" Okay, I wouldn't be challenging her authority anymore. In fact, I decided right then that I would head back to Levy. Easier said than done as the gym was filled with pandemonium. Dragon Watchers fighting Alliance members, and Fairy Tail members fighting by our side. I even noticed Lucy and a pink-haired girl named Sherry trying to rip each other's hair out. That one was just hilarious. What piqued my interest, though, was Minerva sitting nonchalantly on a chair as she ate a cookie. Jiemma was thundering over to her.

"Minerva, what are you doing? Get in there and fight!" he roared.

"I have no interest in such childish games, father," she replied, still nibbling away. He growled in anger and looked ready to lunge at her until Sting appeared out of nowhere and socked him in the face with a shining fist. He crumbled like feta.

"Pretty lousy excuse for a guild master to threaten your own!" he said with a scowl. Minerva still did nothing.

"Cheap shot, man," I told my younger brother. Sting shrugged like it didn't matter.

"I got it!" Levy's voice suddenly called from the front. That was my cue to move.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" I yelled, surging forward to wipe through the enemies standing in front of me and Sting. Within seconds, we had joined up with Levy, Gajeel and Rogue.

"That should do it. Good luck, boys," she said, giving Gajeel a kiss on the cheek for good measure. Some Alliance members lunged at us, but were just as quickly stymied by Fairy Tail members in an all-out brawl. Yeah, it was pretty much mass chaos out there. However, we just gave them a wave and passed through the barrier as I saw Gildarts take center stage. I also saw Jellal slinking away to a corner far from the fighting, probably to hold his sleep spell. None of it mattered; I had something else on my mind.

"Hey, Salamander, where ya going?" Gajeel yelled as I took off down the hallways for the South Wing. "Do you have a scent on one of the Thunder Legion?"

"You sniff them out, Metal Head," I snapped, not caring about the Thunder Legion or anything else except, "Wendy…"

"What about her?" Rogue asked. His question made me stop and look at them.

"She's on the board, too," I said fiercely. "That means they'll be after her, Thunder Legion or otherwise. I'm not about to let that happen."

"We don't have time for that!" Gajeel screamed at me. "If the other Fairy Tail wizards fail, we could have Alliance members _and_ the Thunder Legion out for our blood. We need to take them out before then."

"I don't care! We made a promise to protect her, and I'm not about to go back on that," I yelled back, getting into his face. He stared me down a moment, matching my ferocity.

"Tch, fine," he finally said. "We'll go after the Thunder Legion. Meet up with us when you're sure the kiddo is safe."

"I'll go with Natsu-san," Sting said, moving to stand by me. "Strength in numbers, right?"

"Let's go," I responded without preamble, my legs shooting off for the South Wing. More specifically, I went for class 223: Mr. Gryder's room. "There are gonna be some non-magic users there, so we just grab Wendy and get out."

"You can count on me."

"Afterwards, I'll need you to look after Wendy while I take Laxus down. Can I trust you to do that?"

"She's my sister, too, you know," Sting said. I smiled at him and we fist bumped as Room 223 approached. We skidded to a stop outside and composed ourselves before calmly opening the door.

A party was in full swing there, though I caught no sight of Mr. Gryder. Well, that was slightly fortunate. Still, over the throbbing music and the dancing pre-teens, it almost put our Homecoming dance to shame. Now that I think on it, though, they _were_ the ones who planned it. Sting and I, however, were faced with a predicament; how were we going to find Wendy? The answer to my question came in the form of a familiar pink-haired girl.

"Hey, I thought you guys were all at Homecoming, according to Wendy," Meredy said with a soda in her hand. It was fortuitous that she was here.

"Where is she? Where's Wendy?" I demanded.

"I think she was dancing with Romeo last." I didn't stick around, and I didn't like hearing that she was dancing with boys (even if it was Romeo) but I'd deal with that issue later. I pushed through the writhing pre-teens and soon found Wendy and Romeo. She saw me before I could get a word out.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Talk later," I said. "We gotta go no-"

"Natsu-san!" Sting's yell suddenly alerted me to the danger in time to see five flashes of light aiming for us. I knew it was a bad idea, but I had no choice; my leg was surrounded by flamed and I kicked around, deflecting the blasts. Behind me, Wendy and Romeo crouched low, avoiding damage. They scattered off in all directions, the blasts hitting students and knocking them out. In particular, I noticed Meredy fly back and hit her head on a desk. Hopefully, it would cause amnesia.

"I knew you'd lead me to the kid, but I didn't expect you to stop my babies." I knew that voice. I looked up and saw Bickslow hovering above us, standing on top of floating tiki dolls. Tiki dolls, huh…Lisanna had bad taste.

"You bastard," I huffed out. That last attack had put me seriously low on magic power.

"Well, hey, now I can get a two for one special. Baryon Formation, babies!" He leapt off his "babies" and they began to spin around. I raised my arms, unsure of how I'd defend us, and Sting still looked too disoriented to try. The beam from the Baryon Formation shot forward and I braced myself.

"Ice Make: Shield!" It took only a second for a large slab of ice to appear, blocking the attack before shattering to pieces. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Bickslow? Attacking one of our own…"

"They ain't our own, Gray," Bickslow taunted back. "That's what the point of this game is."

"I don't know what game you're talking about, but Natsu and the others are part of the Alliance." My head finally righted itself to see Gray in front of me. His jacket was gone and his hair messy, but I was actually really happy to see him.

"Aw, don't be a killjoy, Gray. Join up with our team like the rest of the Alliance and you'll see."

"Not a chance," Gray asserted. "Juvia and I saw what the hell happened in the gym. I don't know what you're up to, but you won't hurt them."

"You'll fight me?" Bickslow laughed out. It soon turned into a full-on giggle fit.

"Natsu, you guys better get out of here," Gray said to me. I frowned at the implication of leaving a fight, but with how I was feeling, I knew it was the best option.

"Don't lose," I said. "Wendy, Sting, let's go."

"I'll stay here." Honestly, I was surprised that it was Wendy who said that. I was ready to argue with her, but there was something in her voice and eyes that made me shut my mouth. "Two-on-one are better odds."

"All right. Look after her, Gray," I said. He nodded, an act which permitted Sting and I to leave the room with Romeo right behind us. We were only steps away when a blast went off. I wanted to turn around and snatch Wendy; that was what I had been there for, but she was too stubborn. Winning this fight would do her some good. Instead, I locked onto Gajeel's scent and took off after it. "Romeo, I have a job for you."

"What?" the young boy asked as we ran.

"Find Happy and the others. We may need their help."

"Got it," he acknowledged. "Oh, and take this!" He tossed a bright flame to me that I swallowed, strength filling my limbs again. Then he dashed away from us. Sting and I pressed onward, and I only hoped that everyone would be all right.

* * *

><p>What I'm about to describe to you now is not what I experienced, but rather stuff that someone recounted to me after the fact. I still think it's important, though, to understand everything. In particular, this was told to me by Wendy, who relived her and Gray's battle with Bickslow.<p>

Shortly after Sting and I left, Bickslow recovered from his giggle fit. Wendy stood behind Gray, who had his arms out in order to protect her. Both had fierce looks on their faces which Bickslow seemed to sneer at. Wendy was undoubtedly creeped out by the guy, especially considering that he was currently wearing a face mask that obscured his eyes. Gray shifted his leg and that was when Bickslow began their battle.

"Attack, babies!" he yelled. At once, his flying tiki dolls shot beams of light at the two. Gray jumped back and grabbed Wendy, the two of them diving to the side with a grunt. Bickslow's attack slammed into desks and other objects around the room, narrowly missing the other students' unconscious bodies.

"Damn it…don't hurt those that aren't involved!" Gray snapped as he let go of Wendy. Both were up on their feet in seconds and Gray was dashing at their opponent.

"What'cha gonna do about it, Ice Boy?"

"Ice Boy! Ice Boy!" the tiki dolls taunted. Gray let loose a guttural growl.

"Don't worry, Gray, I've got you covered!" Wendy said, stretching her arms wide as she glowed. "Oh swift winds that speed through the heavens! Vernier! Oh stalwart blade that cleaves the heavens! Arms!"

Both of the Fairy Tail combatants shone with a brilliant light, and before Bickslow knew it, Gray was in his face. With a fierce cry, his fist collided with Bickslow's face plate and the older man tumbled off the desk he had been standing on. "That'll teach you to not call me Ice Boy. I'm an Ice Make Wizard!"

"Heh, you're somethin' all right," Bickslow said as he leapt to his feet, dusting his clothes off. "I knew I should have waited to lure you into one of Fried's traps, but now I'm just having too much fun. Let's rock it, babies!" Just like before, Bickslow's babies twirled around and aimed straight for Gray, beginning to gather the light for their attack.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray slammed his hands together and the lances of ice flew out, impaling each one of Bickslow's babies. The tiki dolls fell to the floor in a useless heap. Gray smirked at Bickslow, but the masked freak just stuck his tongue out at him.

"Oh no! What am I gonna do?" he mocked Gray, causing Frosty to drop his smirk. "Ya can't destroy souls, Gray! As long as they've got a container, I've still got my babies around!" At his words, staplers, dolls and even a picture frame of Mr. Gryder and a man with glasses rose into the air. Just like the tiki dolls, this assortment of objects fired wicked beams of light at Gray.

"Cold Excalibur!" A sword of ice was made and he used it to begin fending off the beams of light. They kept assailing him, and the attacks began to come at a faster pace, and though Gray's swordsmanship was passable, he was no Erza. Eventually, his movement was just a little off and one of the attacks sailed past his defense, slamming into his stomach and knocking him backwards. With that, Wendy was done standing around.

"If you can just keep creating more as long as there's object, then I'll just get rid of them!" she declared. She heaved a great breath, her lungs filling up with air, one of her eyes shut as she did so. "Sky Dragon's Roar!"

Like the day that she had unlocked her magical powers, a tempest brew in the room. The students were all flung into a single corner while all the desks, chairs, and other assorted items flew out the windows and doors in a mass wave of chaos. Bickslow's babies remained secure, though, but judging from what Wendy saw on his face, he was none too happy about his source of containers disappearing.

"Well, you're a little brat. Babies, Baryon Formation!" The objects began swirling around again and Wendy looked for any spot that she could make her escape to, but could find none.

"How many times are you gonna try the same attack? Ice Make: Shield!" The block of ice returned, but this time it didn't shatter upon the attack colliding with it. "Wendy, attack!"

"Right!" Wendy, getting over her fear of the fight in front of her, leapt over the shield, bounding off its cold surface towards Bickslow. A tempest whirled in her hands, no doubt a move she picked up from me, and Bickslow realized his babies weren't there to defend him. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"

The gusts of wind buffeted Bickslow directly in the face and he want sailing towards the far wall with a great cry. Gray leapt forward and with his magic, created a giant ice hammer that slammed Bickslow in the chest, crushing him to the floor. Their enemy didn't stir and both of the mages took a breath of relief at that fact.

"What…in the…?" A shocked voice called from the class' doorway and they turned to see Mr. Gryder standing there. At the same moment, Bickslow began to get up as he groaned. "Wendy, what is…?"

"Man, that hurt," Bickslow interrupted. "Guess I gotta pull out the big guns." With those words, his hand reached up and began to remove his face plate.

"Shit! Wendy, close your eyes!" Gray yelled. She looked at him in alarm while at the same moment, Gray strode to Mr. Gryder with his eyes closed and clocked him in the face, knocking him out. "Sorry about that, but you'll thank me later."

"Not when I control that little girl with my Figure Eyes!" Bickslow announced. His faceplate was off now and his eyes were glowing green. He turned his head toward Wendy, who hadn't quite shut her eyes yet.

"Wendy!" came a scream and Bickslow's eyes flashed….a second too late. A white blur flew across his vision and dragged Wendy up into the air. Wendy looked up to see Carla holding her aloft, a bright smile burgeoning on to her face.

"Carla! You're here!" she exclaimed happily.

"Great timing, Carla," Gray complimented. "Now, Wendy, let's finish this together!"

"I don't think so! Babies, get 'em!" Bickslow roared. His babies flew out, but there was no way that either of the two would let his attack succeed. Wendy heaved in another breath and blew a giant Sky Dragon's Roar around the entire room that unsettled both Bickslow and his babies. Gray was unfazed, however.

"Ice Make: Lance!" The ice flew out and a sudden idea struck Wendy.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" The sudden gale broke apart the ice that slammed into Bickslow at a high speed. Gray dashed forward, his shirt flying off.

"Nice one! Now, Ice Make: Ice Bringer!" Two giant swords of ice formed in Gray's hands and he slashed across Bickslow. The enemy mage flew backwards and slammed against the wall before crumbling to the floor and passing out with a sigh. "Good work, Wendy."

"Thanks! And thank you for saving me, Gray and Carla," Wendy added cheerily.

"Honestly, if Romeo hadn't found us…Child, you're becoming more like Natsu everyday," Carla remonstrated her.

"Hee hee…" Wendy giggled out. "So, Gray, how did you find us?"

"Uh…Juvia had dragged me off to do…something…when we saw Natsu and Sting heading this way. I figured something was up."

"'Something'?" Gray didn't answer her question. Judging by a few seconds later, he didn't have to, for Wendy blushed bright red at the implications. Carla never let Gray hear the end of it.

Thunder Legion Remaining: 3

* * *

><p>While Gray and Wendy waged their battle against Bickslow, Sting and I were in hot pursuit of Gajeel and Rogue. I could smell the both of them, their scents guiding me through the hallways of the Academy. True, there were a lot of scents I had to distinguish it from, but when you spend seven years with the same people, you can usually pick up their smells in an instant. It was the same thing here. Unfortunately, I also smelled a new person in their general vicinity as the two of us approached. This caused my body to tense up, ready for a fight. Sting must have seen it, because I felt a tension coming from him too. I couldn't quite fathom what it was until I saw someone flying at us. Sting and I dove to the side walls and I have a closer inspection to the person flying. It was very obviously Evergreen. Gajeel and Rogue were not far behind.<p>

"Move it, Salamander!" Gajeel barked as he and Rogue flew past us in the direction we had come from.

"Rogue, what's going on?" Sting asked as the pair of us jogged after them.

"We ran into her, Evergreen of the Thunder Legion, but she won't stand still," Rogue threw back to us. "Where's Wendy?"

"She's with Gray fighting Bickslow," I answered. Up ahead, Evergreen shot down the hallway opposite the one Sting and I had come from. Naturally, we gave chase. "She wanted to fight, and you know how stubborn she can be."

"Less yappin'!" Gajeel yelled. He and Rogue were first to turn the corner and pelt along it. Sting and I turned next to see Evergreen hovering there, waiting for us, her wings flapping slowly. Yes, wings. "Bout time she stopped moving!"

Gajeel and Rogue ran to engage her and I planned to follow, but suddenly I felt Sting hold me back. We tumbled to the ground, and it was a good thing. Like the barrier in the gym, a new barrier erected itself in front of my eyes, pinning in Gajeel and Rogue. Evergreen laughed gaily over head. Then the words appeared.

Only one can leave the field.

"I was hoping to catch all four of you in Fried's trap, but I guess you're not all just meatheads," Evergreen commented callously. I shot her a fiery glare. She had tricked us. It was just lucky that Sting saw through it.

"You bitch!" Sting snarled. He ran for her and she took off again. Sting was faster, though. "White Dragon's Talons!" I recognized that spell from a few training sessions, and sure enough, Evergreen stopped in place, at least for the moment. Gajeel and Rogue were the bigger issue. I was quickly figuring out what would have to happen for them to get out of the trap, and Gajeel figured it out, too.

"Sorry, Ryos," he said, though I don't think he was very sorry. Then he punched Rogue straight in the face. "Salamander, you guys beat her and then take care of the Thunder Freak and Greenylocks. But take separate routes. We don't want to end up in the same situation here."

"Gajeel!" Rogue groaned out, but I wasn't about to stick around and watch their fight. Up ahead, Sting was having trouble with Evergreen. She might not have been able to walk away, but that didn't mean she couldn't give him problems.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Numerous bullets flew outward, slamming into Sting despite his best efforts. What was worse was that she kept adding more and more. I had to do something. Like a fireball, I dove in and grabbed Sting by his collar, pulling him away.

"She's hardcore," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But don't worry, Natsu-san. I'll beat her."

"We can't go wasting energy when we still have Laxus to deal with," I reprimanded him.

"You won't get near Laxus. Leprechaun!" Evergreen contested. The bullets started flying, but this time, Sting was ready.

"White Dragon's Holy Ray!" Numerous streams of light flew from his hands and impacted with the attack, causing Evergreen to stare in shock. Sting smirked at her. Then she started removing her glasses.

"I guess I keep underestimating you people," she stated condescendingly. "Guess I'll have to use the cheap method to get rid of you. Stone Eyes!" Something told me it would be a bad move to look at her. Sting didn't think the same and I moved to pull him out of the way when I heard someone give a battle cry. The next second, Sting and I were fine, Evergreen was flying back, and Erza was in front of us wearing a rather elaborate armor.

"I'm glad to see you're all right, Natsu," she aid without looking at me. I could still see her face, though, which had one eye closed. Clasped in her hand was a powerful looking javelin.

"What happened to the others?" I asked.

"Taken care of." No other explanation was needed. "I shall take care of Evergreen, as well. You two need to find Laxus. Take separate routes so that you're not caught by one of Fried's traps."

"Now hold it right there!" Evergreen protested. Erza responded by smacking her with the butt of her spear. That gave us an opening. Sting and I leapt forward and ran past Evergreen down the only hallway we currently could. "Why do you always have to take away things that are mind, Titania?"

"You want the nickname, take it, but I want something in return."

"What?" We didn't get the answer. Well, we did, but it was a pretty horrific scream. I'm pretty sure that Erza completely won that fight without batting an eye. A fork quickly came up and Sting and I looked at each other before splitting ways.

The halls were still empty and quiet, which was quite creepy all things considered. No one was after us, but I wasn't sure if we were the hunter or the hunted. The lights flickered overhead, but I didn't stop my pace. Fried was the only one left besides Laxus, of that I was sure. So where was he hiding? When would he make his move? A loud crash alerted me to a commotion up ahead and I got to a widened hallway in time to see Juvia slide across the floor to my feet. She looked up at me.

"Natsu…Juvia is so happy to-" She gave a sudden scream as her body convulsed with purple light. I didn't really need the few seconds it took to find her attacker striding out of the darkness into the hallway: Fried. I took a step forward, noting the stairs to the side, just beyond the circular hallway, but was quickly impeded by Juvia holding my foot. "No…the enchantment in this hall…you won't be able to use magic…"

"It's okay, Juvia," I said. I leaned down and picked her up to prop against the wall. "I won't need magic."

"Arrogance is unbecoming," Fried said. "Your skills are not everything. Already, one of you has fallen."

"Big deal," I retorted. "Besides, your enchantment can't be everywhere, so bring it on. I'm all fired up!"

"Very well. I had hoped not to fight you, but if Laxus wills it, it will be done." And my battle with Fried began.

Thunder Legion Remaining: 2

Dragon Watcher Remaining: 4

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: First off: Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the intense fights this chapter, they were kind of fun to write. I am sad that so few of you reviewed last time though…it makes my heart weep a little. Anyway, the story's picking up now so please Review, and Dare to Be Silly.<strong>


End file.
